Silver Words
by HufflePuffPatronus
Summary: A collection of Klaroline Drabbles, all mostly posted from prompts on my tumblr. ft Kalijah, Kennett, Frucien, Stelena, Rebenzo and possibly more.
1. Screw it

Summary: Klaroline Parks and Recs style. Based on the episode Road Trip.

A/N: Hopefully this doesn't suck

"So did you see that episode of ER last night?" Bonnie asked taking a sip of her coffee.

Caroline shook her head.

"I haven't had any time. Mystic Falls is having it's annual clean up day in 3 weeks and I'm only a third of the way through my binder."

"Only a third of the way!?" Bonnie mocked gasped, placing her hand on her chest.

Caroline gave her a half hearted glare and smiled.

"I'm sure ER is a great show but there's no need for me to watch it. If I wanna watch ridiculously attractive medical professionals, courageously saving lives; I'll come down to Mystic General and watch you at work instead," she insisted.

Bonnie beamed shyly and took another sip from her mug.

"How is work anyw-"

"-Ooh heads up," Bonnie interjected, an impish grin appearing on her face.

a

Caroline frowned in confusion, realisation dawning on her face when she heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"Caroline,"

The sound of Klaus' unmistakable crisp, accent curling her name around his tongue, caused a slight shiver to go right up Caroline's spine. She immediately straightened, shooting a nervous glance at Bonnie and praying her cheeks weren't as flushed as they felt.

Judging by the look on Bonnie's face, they were red as traffic lights.

"Klaus!" She exclaimed, spinning around and giving him her brightest but most professional as possible smile.

Klaus offered his own easy, lopsided grin in return.

"You look well this morning, love,"

The compliment was innocent enough, but Caroline noticed as Klaus eyes flickered down to the exposed skin on her neck that her sundress left uncovered. She squirmed self-consciously under his gaze, causing his smirk to widen.

"D-did you get those reports I sent you?"

"Yes as a matter of fact Caroline, I did. I came to thank you for delivering them so promptly,"

"Oh that's no trouble. I could do those kinds of reports in my sleep." She replied, waving him off.

"I don't doubt it, sweetheart." He said smiling indulgently at her. "They were extremely thorough in any case. And in case you were wondering I did notice the side note you slipped in about the budget for the founder's ball. _Very_ subtle," he teased.

Caroline ducked her head and giggled, stopping when she saw Bonnie smirking knowingly at the two of them.

Caroline cleared her throat abruptly let her smile fade.

"Mmm, well I guess I'll- uh see you around then?" She said, bashfully tucking one of her curls behind her ear.

Klaus shook his head and flashed her another devastating smile causing the colour in her cheeks to rise even more.

"You'll actually be seeing me sooner rather than later. Stefan asked me just a moment ago if he could see us in his office,"

"Oh? Okay well I guess I'll see you there, tell Stefan I'll be there in a second," she replied.

"Of course love,"

He shot her one last grin over his shoulder before turning to walk away.

"Hey there Klaus," Bonnie called out humouredly, waving to him as he reached the threshold.

He paused and turned. Confusion flickered across his face momentarily, as if he'd only just realised Bonnie had been there the entire time.

"Ah yes, Bonnie. Hello," he murmured awkwardly before disappearing.

"Oh. My. _God_. Care! Seriously, I have never seen that much sexual tension between two people discussing paperwork!" Bonnie exclaimed.

Caroline sighed deeply and rested her hands in her palms.

"Look I told you, nothing is ever going to happen between me and Klaus. It's against protocol, we could lose our jobs, Bonnie,"

"It's a stupid rule," Bonnie grumbled, scowling and stabbing a fork into her fruit salad.

"Yeah I know," Caroline sighed "But there's nothing I can do about it,"

Bonnie stuffed a piece of a pineapple in her mouth and smiled sympathetically.

"Well my advice, would be this: if you're planning on avoiding your feelings for him, you may wanna try and avoid Klaus for a while, too. No one-to-one situations where there's a risk of anything… _occurring_ , between you two,"

"Yup, definitely. You're absolutely right,"

"Stefan? You wanted to see me?" Caroline said, as she stepped into the office.

"Uh yes, Caroline, please have a seat." Stefan beamed gesturing to the chair next to Klaus.

She smoothed her skirt and sat down. She could feel Klaus' eyes trained on her as she did. She forced herself to look ahead and focus on Stefan who moved to sit behind his desk.

"Thank you both for coming," he said, smiling pleasantly. "I have some news… I'm sending you both on a trip"

Caroline groaned inwardly, feeling her heart sink into the pit of her stomach.

"What sort of trip exactly?" Klaus asked, dubiously.

"I'm glad you asked," Stefan replied."Mystic Falls hasn't hosted the Southern little league tournament in over 40 years. You two are going to travel up to West Virginia and convince the board that that should change,"

"-Not that that doesn't sound like a wonderful idea," Caroline cut in. "I am super excited, believe me. But why are you sending me along with Klaus. I mean surely Damon's _way_ more qualified as the head of the department?"

As she spoke, Stefan regarded her with a look of confusion while Klaus flashed her a less-than-amused look at the suggestion that he be forced into a five hour journey with Damon of all people.

"Well Caroline, while you're only the deputy of the Parks Department, I think that you're more than qualified; your track record speaks for itself. And besides, despite whatever differences you've had in the past, you and Klaus work well together; you have have a history of getting the job done. I have faith in you both and I'm sure you'll manage to be productive," Stefan concluded.

"Yes, I'm more than certain we will be" Klaus quipped, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Stefan may not have noticed the suggestion in his tone but Caroline certainly did; she resisted the urge to glare him as Stefan spoke again.

"Good. Well you two are free to go, I'll email you the details later on,"

With a quick nod at Stefan, Caroline practically bolted out of the room, briefly catching the smug look on Klaus's face as she did.

"Ugh! _Bonnie_ , everything in your wardrobe is too sexy,"

Caroline held up a pink and black bandage dress and wrinkled her nose.

"I think this is the exact, slutty party dress that Lindsay Lohan wore in Mean Girls,"

"Yeah I know," Bonnie grinned. "I look really good in it,"

"Bonnie help me!" She whined. "I need outfits for this trip that screams 'I don't want anything to happen between us',"

"Caroline relax. Because I'm your friend, I will help you un-seduce him but this is so ridiculous. You _obviously_ like each other and you're going on a road trip, you could literally get a room," Bonnie said, pointedly.

"Yeah and we could also literally get fired," Caroline deadpanned.

She pulled out a folder from her bag and headed towards Bonnie's couch. "Here, I need you to help me pick out the best one out of my list of unsexy topics for conversation."

Bonnie plopped down next to her and frowned as she took her binder from her.

"The history of the ladder; a detailed summary of Whitmore's residential area… wh- 50 useful things you can do with earwax!? Ew Caroline! Is this really necessary?"

"Yes, Bonnie it is. This trip _has_ to be as unromantic as possible,"

"Ooh I have an idea for a topic," Bonnie said suddenly.

"Oh yeah? Shoot."

"I think you should ask him about his penis,"

Bonnie shrieked as Caroline tossed a cushion in her direction.

"Bonnie Bennett you are no help!" Caroline yelled as Bonnie took off into the kitchen, cackling loudly.

"I hate you," screamed Caroline.

"I love you too, Care."

The car journey there was silent and tense. Partly because Caroline refused to speak to or make eye contact with Klaus for the first half of the journey. She was far too nervous to even use any of her practised conversation material.

The realisation has dawned on her, that this trip would be the first time she and Klaus would be completely alone together - for no less than four hours, well five if she included gas breaks - with no Stefan and no restrictions.

Just them, in Klaus' car. With Klaus' backseat right behind them. Not that she'd thought about anything happening in Klaus' back seat...

"Are you alright love?" he asked, his blue eyes shining with concern.

"What? Oh- me? Oh, yeah- no, I'm fine. Totally. Why do you ask?" Caroline stammered.

Klaus frowned slightly and drummed his fingers on the dashboard.

"Apologies love, I've just don't think I've you this quiet for such a large stretch of time before,"

"Very funny," Caroline said dryly, giving him a humourless smile.

Klaus smirked and turned back to the traffic lights.

"We don't have to, of course but I'm told that these sort of journeys go by much faster if there's something to talk about," he suggested.

Caroline turned and beamed at him.

"Well, interestingly enough, I just read the most fascinating article recently, in Time magazine,"

"Oh?"

"It's all about the history of the ladder,"

Klaus frowned in confusion.

"... but I suppose the best thing about Whitmore's accommodations is how spacious the rooms are. I mean, each room even has a fireplace. Which is crazy, because what kind of dormitory has a fireplace right?"

"Fascinating, sweetheart," Klaus responded. Although his tone implied the exact opposite.

"You certainly seem to know an awful lot about the campus, love. Tell me, Caroline did you attend there?"

"Um… actually, no,"

"Ah, I see,"

There was a long stretch of tense silence before Klaus suggested that they listen to some music.

"Oh sure I've got us covered," Caroline informed him.

"I burned an entire mixtape especially for this trip,"

Of course what Klaus didn't know was, the music she'd put on the disk was about as stimulating as the conversation they were having-

-and it was three hours long. (Her backup plan if the earwax talk wasn't very effective).

Klaus jumped as he pushed the disk into the CD player and a sharp, twanging sound erupted from the speakers.

"Caroline?..."

"It's called Banjo Bonanza," she shouted at him over the music.

"I can't say that I'm all that familiar with the banjo," Klaus shouted back.

"Well it really is a remarkable instrument,"

"I hadn't realised it was quite so loud…"

"Caroline… are these… whale noises?" Klaus asked.

"Mmmhm," Caroline answered, fiddling nervously with her hair. "I find it relaxes me,"

Klaus stared at her incredulously

"You can totally change it if you want."

Klaus wearily reached out his arm to press the button for the next track, bracing himself for whatever was coming next.

This time it was Caroline's turn to jump as an unfamiliar but pleasant sound, began to fill the car.

 _'For once in my life I've got someone that needs me…'_

"Wait. What the hell? How did that get on there!?" Caroline demanded, reaching over to the stereo to find out why she wasn't hearing 'Mandarin for Beginners'.

"Leave it love," Klaus implored, gently taking her hand before she could reach the stereo.

"I'm not usually one for contemporary music but I do enjoy Stevie Wonder as much as the next man," he smiled.

Caroline quickly slipped her hand out from Klaus's, feeling her cheeks beginning to burn.

 _Sneaky-ass Bonnie._ She thought as she slumped back into the chair. _Must_ _have snuck that in while I wasn't_ _looking_.

Caroline reminded herself to fire Bonnie a very scolding text message at the next gas station.

"So where did you attend university, Sweetheart?" Klaus asked, conversationally. "-If you don't mind me asking," he added when she looked startled by the question.

"Oh, I actually went out of state, to Stanford," she replied.

Klaus appeared surprised by this.

"Stanford, hmm. I would never have guessed," he mused.

"Well what does that mean?" Caroline asked defensively.

"I only mean that I never pegged you for someone willing to travel so far away from home." He assured her. "I'm more than confident that Stanford university was extremely fortunate to have you,"

Caroline blushed and turned to look out of the window.

"So what led you to return?"

Caroline shrugged. "Well I did a little traveling in between studying and while I did enjoy broadening my horizons, Mystic Falls is always going to be home. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else,"

Instead of answering Klaus simply sat silently, regarding her with almost quiet reverence. When the intensity of his gaze became too much, Caroline quickly changed the subject.

"So! How far is it till our next gas break?"

Klaus turned and squinted at the GPS.

"Should be about 15 more minutes," he supplied.

"Good then we're right on schedule," Caroline mused, checking her watch.

"So have you ever been to this hotel Stefan's putting us up in,The ?" Klaus asked.

"No, but I convinced to Stefan change our reservations to a different hotel nearby. The Ivy."

Klaus raised his eyebrows intrigued.

"Oh yeah it's 10 times better," Caroline emphasised.

"You've been before?"

"Yeah, it's perfect. The towels are soft and the staff are so helpful and friendly. Ooooh and they leave those little chocolates on your pillow. And speaking of the beds-" she tilted back her head and let her eyes roll.

"-You wouldn't believe how comfortable they are,"

"I'm sure I can't wait to find out," he purred suggestively.

Klaus smirked as Caroline's breath hitched in her throat, his eyes smouldering.

"So um, anyway… the bathrooms are ridiculously clean and when you step out onto the shower rug it's like putting your feet on a little lamb. Now I don't usually do this but I when I got home, I gave the place a five star rating on Yelp." she gushed.

As Klaus gave her that look once more, Caroline wrung her hands and swallowed nervously, ceasing her excited rambling.

More silence followed.

Eventually they pulled up to another red led light. She flinched suddenly as Klaus extended his arm towards her face.

"Klaus? What are you doing?!"

"Stay still love," he murmured "It's an eyelash,"

Caroline let her eyes flutter shut, felt a shudder run through her as the pad of Klaus' finger gently swiped her cheek.

"There," he whispered "All gone."

His hand lingered and slowly ghosted over her cheek.

It only took a second before Caroline snapped back to her senses quickly batting his hand away.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk for the rest of the trip," she blurted out, recoiling away from him.

"Caroline?-"

"I'm just. I feel car sick, okay?"

Klaus stared skeptically at her for a moment in silence, before nodding and turning back to the traffic.

"Alright love we'll be at the gas station soon. We'll get you some water. Okay?"

"Mmm," she nodded staring straight ahead as they started moving again.

..."So you see, given Mystic Falls' rich history, combined with the state of the art sports facilities we have; there really is no competition in terms of who you should appoint as this year's Little League Tournament hosts,"

The panel gave Caroline a polite round of applause as she concluded her speech (but not without giving them the best smile the former Miss Mystic Falls had to offer).

"A very impressive presentation Miss Forbes," The first board member said glancing down at his clipboard "But I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up the incident that occurred the last time that Mystic Falls-"

"-I'm sure there's no reason to drag up something long since put in the past," Caroline interjected, brushing off his comment with a nervous chuckle.

Klaus stepped forward, as the gentleman gave Caroline a disapproving look over the rim of his glasses.

"I think what my colleague is trying to say is: It was... rather unfortunate that Mayor Augustine became intoxicated at the last championship, however please rest assured, the town's current Mayor is more than competent and I'm sure she has no intention of following in her predecessor's footsteps-"

"-Eagleton is bigger; Lucasville has a bigger venue; why should the board allow Mystic Falls to host the event?" A woman on the right of the panel asked cutting him off.

"It's simple." Klaus stated before Caroline jump in to answer. "Mystic Falls is an excellent place to live."

Caroline's eyes widened in shock, unable to hide her surprise at Klaus' words. For it it was the first time he'd expressed anything but contempt for the tiny little town that he'd been stuck in for the sake of his job.

-"The people are warm and friendly and they work hard. There's a sense of community and it's a wonderful place for families and children, thus making it the perfect place to host the league this year."

"In fact I personally believe the board would be making a devastating mistake if they didn't choose Mystic Falls, Virginia for its venue this year"

The room fell into silence as one by one the board members began to smile at one another and then at Klaus.

Caroline didn't realise it at first but she was smiling at him too.

"I can't believe we did it!" Caroline squealed grinning down at the stamped letter of approval in her hand.

"You did it sweetheart," Klaus maintained, smiling affectionately at her.

"No. _Usually_ I do it but this time it was a team effort," Caroline stated, pulling out her phone to text Stefan the good news.

"Well I think this is cause for celebration then. Let's you and I go out for some dinner, my treat. Stefan recommend a charming little seafood place to me." he proposed.

"Uh dinner? Are you- uh, sure that's a good idea?" Caroline mumbled nervously.

Klaus stepped toward her and placed his hands on both of her shoulders.

Caroline had to resist to moan as the overwhelming scent of his aftershave hit her as he came closer.

"Sweetheart we've worked hard for this, at the very least we owe it to ourselves to take some time out," he reasoned with her.

Caroline sighed seeing Klaus wasn't going to give in.

"Alright," she said relenting. "But you _have_ to let me pay for myself,"

 _Because this is not a date._ She thought.

"Caroline-"

"Klaus."

"Alright fine. As you wish, sweetheart,"

Neither of them spoke during dinner. Although things were admittedly less tense than they had been in the car. Klaus glanced at her every so often as he ate his salmon but didn't make any comments.

"I thought it was really sweet what you said today, about Mystic Falls," she finally said, cutting into her lobster.

Klaus stopped eating and smiled at her.

"Well I meant it," he said, looking up at her sincerely.

"It's just you've never been the biggest fan of the place. I was so surprised to hear you saying all those nice things," she continued.

"On the contrary love. I found I've grown to quite enjoy living in the town; small and quaint as it may be, it has grown on me," he confessed.

Caroline arched her eyebrows and smiled at him.

"In fact I look forward to the part of my day when I get to sit down and chat with the town,"

"Oh," Caroline said blushing.

"Yes, in fact the town is extremely beautiful, I find myself thinking about it quite often,"

"Klaus…" Caroline said softly, with shake of her head.

"The town also has rather pretty blonde hair-"

Caroline's face broke out into a full smile and she began to laugh unreservedly. Klaus' expression mirrored her's and then softened as he cautiously reached out and took her hand in his.

"Sweetheart, I think we should at least talk about this," His blue orbs bored into hers.

"It isn't just me." Klaus asked, although he phrased it as more of a statement than a question.

Caroline tugged her lip between her teeth and sighed. "No, it isn't just you," she whispered.

"Good," he hummed giving her hand a squeeze.

And it felt good. Just the two of them alone. Her hand fitting so perfectly into Klaus' large one. It created a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.

But quickly, it was replaced by a surge of panic. She abruptly withdrew her hand from Klaus' and rose from her chair.

"What's wrong?" He demanded.

"I just need the bathroom, I have to- um… I'll be back okay?"

She rushed away from their table before Klaus could form a response.

"Bonnie," she hissed, urgently. "Oh my gosh, answer your phone! Answer your ph-"

"-Care?"

"Oh my goodness, thank God." Caroline sighed, already feeling calmer at the sound of Bonnie's voice.

"Caroline what's wrong, has something happened?" Bonnie questioned, sounding concerned.

"It's an emergency Bonnie, we have a serious code Klaus,"

"Y'know it's not really code if you say his name -"

"We're having dinner - I mean we're in a restaurant, were not _having dinner_ \- it's not like that. It's not a date, but it feels like a date. He held my hand and I let him and we started talking about our feelings and ugh, I'm just so confused, help me-"

"Caroline. Whoa, hey, relax alright. Everythings going to be fine okay," Bonnie soothed.

"How can you say that!? We're crossing into non professional territory Bonnie! This cannot be happening right now."

"Well maybe it's a good thing, the two of you talking out your feelings for each other. Maybe then it will be easier to figure out what to do." Bonnie suggested.

"No. I know exactly what I need to do. I've let this go far enough already, it's time to revert back to the plan: Bonnie, read me the script."

"Seriously, Caroline do you really think that-"

"-Please. Just read it, Bonnie." Caroline beseeched her.

"Alright, alright, I've got it right here somewhere, hold on a sec,"

The was a shuffling noise and then the distinct sound of paper being un-crumpled and before long Caroline could hear Bonnie's voice on the line again.

Bonnie sighed.

"Okay, Caroline I'm here. Are you ready?".

"Yes,"

"Okay. 'Caroline, this is past you, speaking to you through your bff Bonnie (friend and beautiful nurse)' - aw, Caroline, thank you - 'If you're listening to this then you are very close to making a decision that could potentially be a mistake. Whatever you do, do not give into your feelings for Klaus. Remember: YOUR CAREER IS ON THE LINE'"

"Ugh, shut up Bonnie. What do you know anyway." Caroline snapped without thinking.

"Caroline! It's your script!?" Bonnie scoffed.

"I know, I know I'm sorry. I just, I don't wanna fight this anymore you know." Caroline huffed, resting her face in her palm.

"So go for it!" Bonnie urged her. "Follow your heart, who cares about the stupid rules,"

"No! Stop, you're supposed to stop me, tell me what a terrible mistake I'm making, be firm."

"No. Stop." Bonnie monotoned.

"Shut up, Bonnie, I'm doing it anyway," Caroline smirked.

"Yay!"

Caroline hung up the phone and smiled triumphantly feeling a new wave of energy run through her.

Rules be damned. This is what she wanted. Never let it be said that Caroline Forbes wasn't a go-getter.

She headed out from the foyer, back into the dining area, expecting to find Klaus smiling and waiting for her.

Instead she came face to face with Stefan.

"Caroline! Great of you to join us. Klaus and I were just discussing today's success."

"Stefan," Caroline gasped. "I- I didn't know, I mean I had no idea-" she stuttered, attempting unsuccessfully to hide her shock (and disappointment).

"Well when you texted me the news, I just had to drive up here to congratulate the two of you. I mean you pulled off the impossible here; we all know what went down last time, with Mayor Augustine." Stefan replied.

"Well it was all Caroline really," Klaus insisted. "The board were extremely impressed with her presentation,"

Caroline cheeks coloured as she and Klaus briefly made eye contact. His dimples grew prominent as he smiled at her.

"Well I'm extremely proud of both of you." Stefan proclaimed, breaking the moment between them. "I knew I could trust my two lieutenants,"

"Caroline, please, sit," he encouraged, noting that she still frozen on the spot. "I wanna discuss everything that happened today with the two of you."

Caroline slumped into the chair, albeit rather reluctantly, deliberately not making any eye contact with Klaus.

 _You wouldn't believe what happened today even if we could tell you._

Stefan picked up a menu and beamed at them both.

"So, what looks good?"

Caroline sighed as she strode toward Stefan's office; reflecting on how utterly disastrous things had worked out that weekend. Not only did Stefan have dinner with them for the rest of the evening, but he insisted that both she and Klaus stay the night in his condo; with him on the couch and her in Stefan's guest bedroom.

It had been awkward to say the least; especially with everything unsaid still hanging in the air. But overall Caroline conceded that it was probably for the best. Whatever it was between them, wasn't worth losing their jobs over. Stefan's suddenly appearance had cleared the stardust from her eyes and now she was thinking clearly and rationally. It would never work.

She knocked twice on Stefan's door, jumping back in surprise when Klaus emerged from the room instead of him.

"Oh! Hi, I just needed to hand these reports in to Stefan," Caroline explained.

"Ah, well he isn't here at the moment" Klaus explained.

"Oh okay well in that case I'll just-"

All of a sudden the world became hazy. Klaus grabbed her wrist and-and tenderly brushed his lips against her own. As he felt her beginning respond, he tilted her face in his hands and began to deepen the kiss. Caroline moaned allowing him to slide his tongue past her lips and brush it against her own.

She gasped as he finally released her feeling dizzy and lightheaded. She looked up to see Klaus looking back at her with a triumphant smile.

He gently skimmed his hands through her hair and she sighed.

"Uh, oh,"

* * *

Hi readers, so this is my new drabble collection where I|'ll be posting all my stories, for those who were previously reading Don't Be Angry Love, I know this story was in there, dw the next chapter will be a new story. If you've decided to follow me here many thanks, I appreaciate you.x


	2. In The Heart of The West Part 4: Epiloge

A/N: So for 'Right Place Right Time' I decided to do an epilogue to In The Heart of the West; seeing as though it's set sometime in the past (although I can't quite decide when, oops).

Picks up a few weeks after the proposal.

Elena Gilbert just had to choose literally the hottest day of the year to get married, hadn't she? Additionally, she'd also picked out the most hideous looking bridesmaid's dresses known to man.

Caroline squinted and examined her appearance in the mirror, noting the considerable amount of resemblance she bared to a trifle.

She'd seen ugly dresses before but this awful.

No doubt this was a subtle, but devious manoeuvre on Elena's part to ensure she wasn't overshadowed on her big day. Hence the obnoxious shade of pink; big puffy sleeves; the over-abundance of lace and giant hoop skirt around the ankles. To top it off, Elena had the nerve to pair it with gloves, a parasol and a large pink bonnet to match.

The only consolation for Caroline was knowing that Bonnie and three of Elena's cousins, would spend the day looking just as ridiculous as she would.

Caroline reached over to her dresser and picked up a silver pendant. It was her mother's, passed down after she'd died in childbirth. As far as she knew, it was a very old family heirloom although it probably wasn't worth that much monetarily. But she didn't have many possessions belonging to her mother and so the little necklace meant a lot to her.

Caroline only took it out on special occasions and no matter what it was she was wearing; it always made her feel beautiful -and honestly she had to do something to take some attention away from that god-awful dress.

The only problem with decades old family relics was that they had clasps that were old and rusty and difficult to fasten.

As she struggled with this, she suddenly felt a warm pair of hands land on her waist as someone placed a kiss on the nape of her neck. She giggled softly as the scruff on Klaus' face tickled her.

"Here sweetheart," he murmured, taking the necklace from her. "Let me,"

Despite being considerably larger, Klaus deft fingers turned out to be far more capable than her own when it came to dealing with delicate things.

In a few seconds, the clasp was secure. Caroline moved to sweep the hair back into place on her neck but Klaus stopped her hands, and pushed it back onto her shoulder, leaning down and brushing his lips against her neck.

Caroline sighed contentedly as he did, resting her hands over his and tilting her neck to give him access. She began to feel light-headed as he ghosted his lips against a sensitive patch of skin behind her ear; although she couldn't be quite sure if it was Klaus' ministrations or the tight corset pressing against her ribcage that was causing the dizziness.

Reluctantly, she attempted to unwind herself from him as Klaus attached his lips to her pulse point and sucked at it; his tongue lavishing the spot slowly.

"Klaus, no." She complained "You'll leave a mark,"

"Good," he growled. "That will deter any eligible young men at Elena's wedding getting any ideas about stealing you away,"

"And the what makes you think I'll be so easily taken?" She hummed, turning to circle her arms around his neck.

Klaus grinned and leant down for a kiss, pulling her hips toward him but Caroline jerked her head back at the last minute, tilting her chin upwards and tapping it in a thoughtful manner.

"Well I suppose I could be persuaded only if he was very rich, though," she mused, glancing up to flashing Klaus a teasing smile.

Caroline screamed and let out a high-pitched giggle as Klaus dipped his head and began to attack her neck. Securing his arms firmly around her, making escape impossible.

At this rate, they weren't going to make it to the wedding on time.

And for once, Caroline couldn't bring herself to care.

They weren't attending together. Not on paper anyway. No, on paper they each had two separate, embossed invitations; one for herself and another for Klaus (Sheriff Mikaelson on the invite) handed over albeit slightly reluctantly on Elena's part.

Publicly Elena was reasonably polite to Klaus's face but privately Caroline knew that Elena secretly didn't care for him. As a quintessential southern bell, Elena strongly disapproved of any behaviour upstanding members of the community like herself considered commonly distasteful. This included: spitting on sidewalk corners, gunslinging and the heavy consumption of anything stronger than a mild, malt beer.

Klaus, being guilty of all these offences and more didn't rank high in Elena's good graces but for the sake of appearances - and Stefan - Elena had gritted her teeth and extended Klaus an invitation.

However, regardless of Elena's feeling on the matter, Caroline had resolved that she was going to disclose the truth about her relationship with Klaus to her and Bonnie as soon as today was over.

She had no intention of stealing Elena's thunder from her at her own wedding. Caroline could only hope that once Elena had enjoyed an entire day centred around herself, then the swelling on her head would go down on her head a bit and everyone could stop hearing about the conjugal bliss she and Stefan were sharing together.

Caroline's stomach began to clench as she and Klaus arrived at the church. Arriving together could have happened by chance; sitting in the same pew, next to one another merely a coincidence but what about at the reception. What if Klaus wanted to dance? She'd promised him no more secrets and she'd meant it; but what if people started to talk? If word got back to Elena…

Perhaps Klaus could sense her discomfort, or maybe the the upcoming upcoming nuptials had him feeling sentimental. Either way, Caroline felt his hand slip covertly into hers and give it a soft squeeze. She breathed a sigh of relief, a wave of calm washing over her.

"I'm worried about Care,"

Bonnie sighed longsuffering and gave one of Elena's cousins a sympathetic look, as she attempted to adjust her wedding dress, despite Elena's constant fidgeting.

"I'm sure Caroline's fine Elena," Bonnie replied, sparing a quick glance at her reflection over Elena's shoulder.

"I just feel so bad for her Bon, having to come to my wedding with no date. I mean how awful for her!" she lamented.

Bonnie turned her back to Elena and rolled her eyes stooping down to adjusted the skirt on her dress. Elena had to be the only person in Mystic Falls who didn't have a clue about the relationship between Caroline and the Sheriff. Whether they were just friends of something more, Bonnie had no idea. Caroline had chosen not to confide in either of them so Bonnie hadn't attempted to pry.

All she knew is that was an awful lot of sexual tension for two people who were only polite 'acquaintances'.

"I didn't bring a date either 'Lena," she reminded her.

Elena spun around abruptly and gave Bonnie a disbelieving look. Meanwhile, her cousin shot her a dirty look from where she was kneeling, as the pins she'd carefully put in flew out.

"Bonnie Bennett, we are standing in a church! I can believe you would tell me such a bold face lie!" Elena exclaimed.

"I'm not lying Elena what are you talking about!?" Bonnie scoffed incredulously.

Elena raised a perfectly arched eyebrow and stared pointedly in her best friend's direction.

"Kol Mikaelson. Didn't he escort you here?" She asked with a coy smile.

"Ugh please," Bonnie scoffed. "He didn't escort me. He gave me a ride here in his carriage, it's no big deal,"

"Uh, it is too. That boy is sweet on you Bonnie!" Elena insisted.

"Yeah me and half the other women in town," Bonnie murmured, scowling.

Not that she cared how many women Kol Mikaelson went after. Why should she? Sure he was handsome but…

"Trust me, sweetie, for the right lady, even the most womanising scoundrel can find it in them to settle down," Elena said, turning back to the mirror to admire herself.

Bonnie was tempted to make a comment concerning Damon and Elena's little finger but she bit her tongue instead.

Caroline beamed as she circled her arms around Elena's tiny waist and squeezed as hard as possible.

"I can't believe it!" She squealed. "I cannot believe that you're actually married!"

Caroline turned and looked at Bonnie who returned her look of excitement.

"I know, isn't amazing!" Elena exclaimed holding her diamond ring up in the light of the chandelier above her head.

"Careful love, we wouldn't want to blind anyone with that, now would we?" A accented voice quipped from behind them.

"Sheriff!" Elena called out, plastering a large fake smile as she turned to face him. "So glad you could make it,"

She extended her hand to him and he took it politely.

"I think I saw Stefan just a second ago, he's greeting one of his mother's relatives- oh! There he is. Stefan! Stefan!"

As Elena looked away from them, Klaus gave Caroline as conspiratorial wink which she returned with an unimpressed glare out of the corner of her eye, before turning her attention back to the bride and groom as Stefan wandered over.

"Klaus, thanks for coming buddy," Stefan grinned pulling his arms around Klaus' shoulders.

"Wouldn't've missed it for the world," he returned.

"Caroline, Bonnie how are you?" Stefan asked, nodding in their direction.

Neither of them got the chance to answer, Caroline watched Elena's cheeks turning an angry shade of red as in the next minute the small group were joined by two others.

"Good afternoon everyone, God's rich blessings to all of you."

Elijah Mikaelson came ambling over to where they stood with none other than Katherine Pierce on his arm. Wearing a white dress of all things.

"Brother good to see you. Miss Bennett, Miss Forbes. Elena, Stefan allow me to offer you my congratulations-"

"-Katherine," Elena said sharply, disregarding Elijah completely. "I had no idea you were coming, what an interesting surprise."

The practised smile remained on Elena's face but she barely managed to conceal the vitriol in her tone as she eyed Katherine seethingly.

Katherine, flashed her an innocent look in return, although it was clear she was relishing in Elena and everyone else's obvious discomfort.

"I invited Katherina, as my companion this evening. I do hope I haven't caused any inconvenience."

"Not at all," Stefan interjected. Before Elena could answer with what Caroline was sure would've been nothing nice.

"Katherine, I wasn't aware you and my brother had been spending so much time together," Klaus commented, giving Elijah a pointed look.

"Oh yes!" She exclaimed with false enthusiasm. "Elijah's been taking me with him to church for Bible study and morning mass."

"Katerina is an extremely enthusiastic student," Elijah beamed.

"I never pegged you for a church goer Katherine," Caroline said, squinting her eyes sceptically at her.

"I've been every day this week Caroline," Katherine replied. "Honestly, you wouldn't believe how often I'm on my knees these days."

Stefan's drink went down the wrong way and he began to splutter.

"What kind of person wears white to somebody else's wedding," Bonnie demanded bluntly.

"Oh, this?" Katherine said glancing down at her gown as if she'd just noticed it. "You'll have to forgive me, Elena, this is the only formal gown I had in my closet and I did want to look pretty on your special day."

"Besides, the colour white always makes me feel closer to God," she said batting her eyelashes.

If looks could kill Katherine would be a small pile of dust beneath Elena's heels.

"Stefan, will you take me to get a drink please," Elena said stiffly.

Stefan dutifully offered Elena his arm and steered her away from Katherine before she had the chance to wrap her hands around her neck.

"I think I'll get one too," Bonnie grumbled, flashing Katherine one last reproachful glance before stalking after Elena and Stefan.

"Walk with me Elijah," Klaus hummed, casually throwing Caroline an amused look over his shoulder as went; leaving Caroline alone with Katherine.

"Katerina? Seriously!?" Caroline asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

She shrugged.

"Elijah prefers the way the name sounds in my native tongue,"

"I'm not just talking about that. Who the hell are you? What is this act you're trying to pull off, Katherine?"

Katherine turned and smiled deviously at her.

"I'm not just trying Caroline, in fact, I think I'm succeeding rather considerably, wouldn't you agree?"

Caroline scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, Katherine. Elijah's a nice man and clearly, he's not your type, so what on Earth do you want with him?" Caroline implored.

"I want what every girl wants," she answered simply.

"And what's that?" Caroline asked narrowing her eyes.

"A ring of course. A nice big house, security; everything perfect little Elena managed to get her hands on."

"Are you serious!?" Caroline asked incredulously.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I'm jealous, the Salvatores are filthy rich. I'd marry the other brother if he wasn't such a pig," Katherine said, shooting a disgusted look at Damon who was propped up by the bar shamelessly guzzling down a bottle of scotch.

"So this is all about money for you!?" Caroline asked, "I hate to break this to you Katherine but Elijah and his family aren't all that wealthy."

Katherine tittered softly and gave Caroline a condescending smile.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? I know that."

"So why-"

"-Have you Ever lived in a whorehouse Caroline!?"

"Um no, no I can't say that I have," she stammered.

"It's hell. It's cramped up and dirty and there are fights all the time and that's because, everywhere you turn there's always someone trying to steal your clothes, or your money or your customers."

"When my father first brought us to this country I was five. 'America' he said, 'The land of opportunity'. What a crock that was. He told us we were going to have a big house and live well and never have to worry for the rest of our lives. You know what happened? People took one look at us and all they saw was a bunch of dirty gypsy travellers. We ended up dirt poor in some cramped little hovel, worse off than we were back home,"

Caroline gaped at Katherine in shock and shook her head.

"Katherine, I'm sorry I had no-"

"Don't." She snapped, glaring coldly at her. "I don't want or need your pity Forbes. The minute I was old enough I got out of there and never looked back. I swore that from then on, I'd never be poor another day in my life, whatever it took. But as of now I'm done surviving, I want to live."

"And I guess that's where Elijah comes in," Caroline said dryly.

Katherine's face contorted pityingly. "He's very sweet. So desperate to cleanse me of my sinful ways"

"What is wrong with you!? What you're doing Katherine, it's cruel. Using him like that and pretending to be someone you're not." Caroline said, her brow creasing disapprovingly.

Katherine's head snapped toward her and she suddenly came very close and leant in to whisper something to her. "The world wasn't made for us, dearest Caroline. Girls gotta do what a girls gotta do,"

Katherine smirked and glanced over Caroline's shoulder. "Good luck with what you're doing."

Caroline frowned and turned to follow Katherine's line of sight, seeing Klaus coming back towards them with Elijah in tow.

"Bye bye, Caroline," Katherine purred, taking Elijah's arm and flouncing away.

This was humiliating. Rebekah sighed despondently. Here she was, easily the prettiest woman in the room (if she did say so herself) and not a single man wanted her hand for a dance.

Honestly, she hadn't even wanted to go to the bloody wedding. The last thing she'd wanted to do was watch the man she'd been pining for over a year get married to his sweetheart, in a big romantic, over gratuitous, ceremony. The whole thing only served as a reminder of how alone she was.

Tired of watching happy couples waltzing gaily around the dance floor, with giddy smiles on their faces; Rebekah let out another resigned sigh and rose from her chair, deciding she might as well make her way to the bar and spend the remainder of the evening, drowning her sorrows with the rest of the spinsters and sad-sacks.

Except as soon she got up she ended colliding head first with a man who was walking past. He managed to catch her around her waist just before she flew backwards. As she caught her breath, Rebekah couldn't help but notice how attractive the stranger was. He had a handsome face, with very chiseled features; light blond hair and possibly the bluest pair of eyes she'd ever seen in her life.

"Pardon me ma'am, didn't see you there," he apologised with a sincere expression.

Rebekah's eyes bulged, nearly out of their sockets and gave the man's chest a hard shove, writhing free of his grip on her waist.

"What did you just say to me!?" She demanded in a shrill voice.

"I said I was sorry…?" The man answered, his cerulean eyes growing wide in confusion.

"You called me ma'am! Do I look like some sort of old maid to you!?"

"I… was just trying to be polite. I'm sorry if somehow I offended you," the stranger explained raising his arms in defence.

"Guess that explains it then," he murmured under his breath as he turned to leave.

"That explains what!?" Rebekah asked whipping around to face him.

"Well just a minute ago I was across the room, wondering why a beautiful girl like you didn't have anyone to dance with; now I guess I have my answer," he stated with a slight raise of his eyebrows.

Rebekah's mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Excuse me!? You can't speak to me like that, you barely know me."

"Well you barely know me and you had no problem with screaming at me just now," the man pointed out. "Being kind and showing a little respect for others doesn't cost anything y'know,"

"-Wait!" Rebekah called out suddenly as the man turned to walk away again. "Just a minute, I- I'm sorry. That was rude of me, I'm just… not having the most amazing of evenings," she explained her cheeks colouring with embarrassment.

"I mean I'm suffering a girl's worst nightmare. Sitting alone at a party, in a pretty dress, with no one to dance with. Everyone here either came with a date or managed fine one... and then there's little old me," she said softly, shrugging and giving him a half-hearted smile.

"Anyhow, I won't keep you away from the party any longer. Again I'm sorry for being so rude,"

Rebekah picked up her skirt and moved to walk around him, when she felt him gently take a hold of her wrist.

"You didn't tell me your name," he murmured, giving her a lopsided grin.

Rebekah smoothed back her hair and blushed.

"It's Rebekah, Rebekah Mikaelson,"

"Ah, you guys are the new family in town, right?"

"Well we've been living here for a little while now," Rebekah answered.

"Yeah well, it's a small town; it's not like we get new comers here every other day,"

"So Rebekah Mikaelson. Instead of waiting around for someone else, have you ever considered just getting up and dancing by yourself?"

Rebekah blinked wondering if she'd heard right, staring up at the man as if he'd grown a second head.

"You are joking, aren't you?" she asked him.

"Why not?"

"Get up and dance all by myself? Are you crazy!? I'd look like a fool," she bristled.

"If you spent your whole life caring about what other people think of you, you'd never do anything,"

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're a real budding philosopher aren't you?"

The man let out a hearty chuckle and shook his head.

"I don't know about all that,"

"You still haven't told me your name," Rebekah prompted.

"Matt, Matt Donovan." he smiled, placing a kiss on the back of Rebekah's hand. She giggled softly and felt her skin began to heat beneath her gown.

"Well Matt, are you going to ask me to dance?" she asked with a playful smile.

Matt frowned slightly and released her hand.

"Well I wasn't planning on it…" he said hesitantly.

Rebekah's heart dropped in her chest and she backed away from him.

"Right of course… sorry. How stupid of me-"

Suddenly, Matt's smile grew, and he grabbed Rebekah's arm again, this time spinning her toward him till she was flush against his chest.

"I was only teasing you," he chuckled.

Rebekah pulled her full, pink lips into a pout and scowled.

"That was cruel," she complained.

"I'll make it up to you," he promised, giving her a wink before whisking her out onto the dancefloor.

"Interesting conversation with Katerina?" Klaus chuckled, coming toward Caroline with a glass in either hand. He extended one to her and she accepted it and took a large swig.

"Interesting is one way of putting it; insightful is another," she replied. "How was your conversation with Elijah?"

"Very much the same," he shrugged.

"Are you aware that your brother is courting the she-devil incarnate?" Caroline asked.

Klaus laughed.

"Yes and from what I gathered from my conversation with Elijah, so is he,"

Caroline nearly spat out her drink in shock.

"He knows!? You mean he's willingly going into this with open eyes?"

"What can I say? Far be it for me to understand the inner workings of my brother's heart. He always was a hopeless romantic. And you have to understand sweetheart; he's lonely. Finn was lucky, he met Sage before we left home but then we began travelling and over the years Elijah still hasn't managed to find his coveted soul mate, as of yet," Klaus explained.

"So he's settling for Katherine!?"

"Perhaps he isn't settling at all. Maybe his love for Katherine is truly genuine," he mused.

"Yeah, but it's not as if the same can be said for her. Katherine just wants a better roof over her head and a large stone on her finger." Caroline huffed.

"Maybe but even if Elijah knows that deep down, I doubt it will deter him."

"He doesn't honestly think he can like to save her or something, Does he?"

"Never underestimate my brother's capacity for believing in lost causes, love. After all, he's been attempting to 'save' me for the majority of our adult lives," Klaus said knocking back some of his cider.

"Oh, and has he succeeded or are you still very much a lost cause?" Caroline asked humouredly.

Klaus turned toward her with a strange look on his face.

"What?" she blinked at him.

"Who knows, maybe I've already been saved," he murmured, stepping closer towards her so that their faces were only inches apart.

With the two of them so wrapped up in their own world, they barely noticed all the madness ensuing around them. Across the room, all Elena's female guests rushed to gather around her, squealing and chattering excitedly.

Caroline didn't even see the bouquet hurtling toward her, until it fell unceremoniously into her unsuspecting arms, knocking the drink clean out of her hands.

"Oh look Caroline caught it," one of the women called out loudly.

Caroline flushed in embarrassment, sparing a brief look at Klaus, who had the most infuriatingly smug look plastered across his face.

"Honestly, Caroline what are the odds that the flowers would land right where you were standing?" Bonnie said excitedly, as her, Caroline and Elena huddled together near the table where the cake was.

"I know right. Insane," Caroline mumbled, taking a slow sip of her drink and hoping Bonnie was too buzzed to notice how jittery she was.

"Ugh, it's destiny," Elena gushed. "And I have, to be honest Care, I am so relieved it was you who caught the bouquet in the end."

"Here we go…" Bonnie muttered into her drink.

"What do you mean relieved, Elena?" Caroline asked.

"Well, it's just that Bonnie and I were starting to get so worried about you-"

"Oh, please don't drag me into this," Bonnie pleaded.

"What does that mean!?" Caroline persisted, her eyes darting between her best friends.

"Well, you been seeing anyone and you insist that Enzo fellow is just your friend-"

"He is!"

"-I would just hate it if you were to end up old and alone with only a bunch of books for company." Elena finished, smiling at Caroline as if she was being charitable by merely offering her two cents.

Caroline shut eyes attempting to calm herself down.

Screw it. Screw Elena and her big day.

She asked for this.

"It's so funny you should say that Elena," Caroline said taking her hand and smiling sweetly.

"I have something to tell you."


	3. Spell Bound

A/N: Harry Potter!AU for 'Because Magic' Day.

Also side note I know a lot of HP fics nowadays are written with Caroline having attended Ilvermorny and using the Americanisms for Magical things but I really don't know all that much about that facet of J.K's universe so I'm gonna stick with what I know. For the purpose of this fic, Caroline attended Hogwarts post-Second Wizarding War.

Warning: Slightly dark and gets a bit angsty. Also kind of a long one.

"Lumos," Caroline whispered into the dark. The only sound that could be heard, as she tread through the Slytherin dungeons, was her heels clicking against the stone.

She wasn't on patrol. All the students were in bed. All of them. She knew this for a fact. No one snuck out of bed anymore; not to pull pranks, or to get out of bed and explore in places they shouldn't; not to share sweets in the middle of the night; or so that the Muggle-Born children could entertain their friends, of stories technology and life outside of the Wizarding world.

Because Hogwarts wasn't that sort of school anymore.

These days the children barely even smiled.

The old, smiling groundskeeper who used entertain her and her friends in his little hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest and tell stories about his close friend 'The Boy Who Lived' and reminisce over tea about the good old days; he was gone. Retired apparently. The old half-giant, replaced with a team of faceless uniformed employees, trained to do his job in half the time. Even his little home was no longer there.

Caroline wished she knew what had happened, wished she would've read into the sad little smile he'd had on his face on the last time she'd ever seen him. She should've asked questions, back when people were still willing to give answers, back when it wasn't too dangerous to do so.

Five years ago, around about the time Caroline had first started teaching. There'd been rumours concerning the Dark Lord. He who must not be named. A legend Caroline had believed to be a thing of the past.

It had all began on the anniversary of his death, all this talk emerged about a second coming of sorts. Conspiracy arose that 'You Know Who' hadn't really died but that he was simply in hiding, biding his time, building a bigger army and would be returning to strike at the Ministry and this without failing.

A new wave of Death Eaters appeared to be emerging. But they were a small group and most people dismissed the new bout of fanaticism as being far from an immediate threat.

A bunch of Pureblood supremacists, they said, looking to stir up old prejudices and insight fear into people, with whispers and gossip.

At least that's the way it seemed at first.

Then there were the attacks. Several Muggle-born children's lifeless bodies found scattered in various places; this time with new signatures marking their attacker's handiwork. The Death Eater's symbol, either engraved on their forehead or on their palms.

As the attacks became more frequent the Wizarding government anticipated the outcome if things weren't gotten under control. Panic and hysteria. And they couldn't have that.

Since the majority of the extremists caught appeared to be young people, most of them only recent school graduates, the ministry resolved to raise the legality for the practice of magic outside of school grounds from 17 to 21.

Some considered this slightly drastic but considering recent events, the majority of people conceded that it was for the best. The only thing was, the new law meant that everyone had to carry around documentation to prove that they were 'licenced'. This, the Ministry said, would make it easier to identify the extremists from ordinary law abiding citizens.

But taking these measures alone didn't sit well with certain Government officials. Specifically, a man named Elliot Tristesse, who at the time was a relatively unknown minister. One afternoon, in an official parliamentary debate, he spoke out, criticising the government and calling it out on it's 'half-hearted' attempts at combating magic-based terrorism. Initially, he was shouted down. After all, by then the attacks had decreased and those responsible were being identified and detained. Things were beginning to calm down, it was quiet. Almost too quiet.

Caroline remembered hearing from Bonnie over the phone about Dustin Hargrove's death. It had happened over the summer break and she'd been visiting her parent's back in Virginia. Dustin had been a very promising fifth-year student at Hogwarts. He was very bright and exceptionally talented. Caroline never taught him in any of her classes but from what she remembered of him he was also very well liked too.

His death caused an uproar. Many worried about the Wizarding World's security. What if the continued death of Muggle-born children meant that wizards risked exposure to the non-wizard population? Memory charms were doable but complex and even then, the human government would begin to make investigations if children kept disappearing mysteriously every other week. Before the new school term rolled around that year, a round of impromptu, small-scale elections were called and Elliot Tristesse was appointed the new Minister of Defense and Law enforcement which in retrospect made Dustin's death seem suspiciously convenient.

Once in power, Tristesse and his supporting ministers were suddenly demanding for all varying degrees of background checks and calling for new methods of identification. Metamorphmagi, Lycanthropes, registered and especially unregistered Animagi and anyone who remotely differed from the status quo, were suddenly under attack.

According to Tristesse and his followers, individuals such as these were dangerous, people who could change their identity at will and therefore slip under the radar and even worse, those who couldn't control themselves, who were a danger to themselves and other people.

The bill to have any and all persons who came under what Tristesse called the Invisibility Clause, carry clearly visible identification on them at all times; formed part of what would later be known as Operation Prevent.

Suddenly parents were being taken into government custody if they were found to be teaching or encouraging their children to practise of magic outside of the school term. Certain literature was removed from the shelves, Defense Against the Dark Arts was taken off the curriculum at Hogwarts and only approved material was allowed to be issued for the students to study outside of class.

Of course there were a great many who opposed these extreme measures but the Ministry made sure to emphasise - by means of shameless propaganda - that anyone who did protest was a traitor who clearly sympathised with the Death Eaters and approved of innocent children being slaughtered in the name of the Dark Lord.

Back when Caroline graduated from Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall, the current Headmistress, had been ready to retire. By the time Caroline applied for her teaching position the school was being run by a man named Alaric Saltzman formerly a History of Magic teacher.

Caroline grew to like Ric, he was firm but fair, easy going and had a good-natured sense of humour. Above all he cared deeply for the students in his care, some more senior members of staff had even said that Professor Saltzman reminded them of a young Albus Dumbledore when he was at the beginning of tenure as Headmaster.

Poor Ric really should have taken that as a warning.

Despite his position, Alaric was never discreet about his disdain for the Ministry's actions. Unfortunately his outspoken criticism on the matter, led to the accusation that he was a Dark Arts sympathiser and he was forced to resign. He was then substituted for a far more 'suitable' replacement.

Following Professor Saltzman's departure, one by one the faculty members began to resign - or were abruptly pushed out - of their positions at the school. Enzo, the Hogwarts flying instructor and Quidditch referee, Bonnie's husband and one of Caroline's closest friends, resigned in disgust as soon as the news got around about Alaric.

Bonnie followed soon after quitting her position as Divination teacher; a position that had been held by members of the Bennett family for generations making her successor the first non-Bennett fill the role in over 30 years.

Caroline hadn't heard a single word from either of them in months. A few weeks before they left, the Ministry raided their house demanding to see the original copies of old spell books written by Bonnie's grandmother (which were at the time some of many books that had been blacklisted).

The last time they'd spoken, she and Bonnie had shared a tearful exchange on the phone as Bonnie explained to Caroline that Enzo had family in Amsterdam that they were planning on staying with until things blew over and how sorry she was that she couldn't give her any more details but that it was for the best.

"-But we love you Care, okay? I'm so sorry. If you ever think about getting out, come and find us,"

Jeremy Gilbert, the younger brother of Elena, Caroline and Bonnie's best friend, had to give up his position as the Herbology Professor after being accused of using the school's resources to illegally brew wolfsbane for consumption instead of its legal to use; self-defence.

Jeremy had disappeared a month after Bonnie and Enzo; suspiciously around the same time as Tyler Lockwood the Transfiguration teacher had.

According to Elena, Jeremy had gone to stay with relatives of theirs in Denver but Caroline heard the lie in her voice before she'd even finished the sentence. They'd been in Elena's kitchen at the time and she could remember how Elena's hands would not stop shaking as she was poured them both a drink.

The only one who hadn't left her was Stefan, her best friend since the first year and now a Professor of Muggle Studies. Stefan was just as much anti Tristesse as everyone else, but he was a pureblood, with an old name and a very influential father. Caroline would wager the likelihood of him being arrested by the Ministry would be slim even if Stefan had the dark mark tattooed right between his eyebrows.

Then, of course, there was her.

She'd gone over it a hundred times in her head. She couldn't understand how had she not been apprehended by the Ministry and given the same treatment as her friends. If anything she had been the most vocal about how immoral she found Tristesse and everything the ministry was doing; arguably even more so than Alaric. Yes, she was an extremely well-respected potions master but also a half-blood with no old name to protect her and despite her rebellious ideologies, Caroline wasn't a rule breaker. Then again, she was doubtful that that would stop the Ministry if they really wanted to pin something on her.

So the question remained.

Why hadn't they?

Of course, deep down she knew. The answer the was right in front of her. Glaringly, painfully obvious.

But she wouldn't let herself think about that.

About him.

When she finally reached the end of the corridor leading to the staff accommodations, Caroline felt exhausted. Lately, her entire body had just felt so heavy.

She and Stefan were supposed to meet up that night for one of their regular chats. It wasn't safe to talk in the open anymore, so they had taken to meeting in remote places; usually underground speakeasies where it was safe for non-believers like themselves. Even then they still used a muffling spell, just in case. But tonight Stefan had cancelled on her to spend time with Elena.

Once upon a time he'd had had strong feelings for her, back while they were in school. Unfortunately for Stefan, Elena had decided to waste the last four years of her time at Hogwarts, frolicking around with Damon Salvatore, Stefan's older brother. A prime douchebag who had treated Elena horribly. Not that she realised it of course, until she'd caught him cheating on her in a bathroom with Tatia Petrova and finally come to her senses.

The the last Caroline had heard from Stefan, Damon was somewhere, living it up in Cuba, partying away all his inheritance.

Ever since Jeremy's disappearance, Stefan and Elena had spent more and more time in each other's company. Jeremy and Elena were orphans, they'd lost their parents in a car accident when they were young. Caroline knew that Jeremy was all Elena had and now she had no inclination as to whether he was alive of dead. That couldn't be easy for her.

Whether she was clinging to Stefan out of loneliness or out of true affection, Caroline supposed she could hardly begrudge Elena.

Goodness knows she understood loneliness. And she could understand grief all too well.

Caroline turned the key in the door stepped inside. She paused, hearing an unfamiliar sound. She hadn't left any lights on, so her tiny apartment was nearly pitch black. Caroline stopped at the door and listened. The sound of a person breathing could be heard, whoever they were they didn't care about being noticed.

Which meant that they were expecting her.

Caroline let out a shaky breath. It was finally her turn, she felt a strange surge of relief. It was like receiving some kind of retribution for being able to go on living normally, while everyone else she knew had to deal with their lives falling apart around them.

She was ready to accept whatever it was coming to her.

"Whoever you are, I'll go with you willingly. Just take me and don't hurt any of the students, please," Caroline implored the faceless stranger. Her fists clenching defiantly at her sides as she spoke.

"Oh sweetheart," a silken voice purred. "You know I'd never hurt you."

Caroline tensed. The breath catching in her throat. The familiarity of the man's voice sending memories flooding through her head, like water escaping from a broken dam. Memories that she had long since repressed. Memories she had come close to asking Stefan to have removed because the chemical sensations of remembering were just too painful.

Suddenly, there it was, his smell, his texture, hair, lips, eyes. Hands meeting. Laughter. The taste of fire whiskey on her tongue. Stolen glances. That smug look when he was winning one of their fights. The hard shelf in the furthest part of the library pressed against her back. Teeth and skin.

Everything she never should have let herself have.

Sweetheart.

Please.

"Caroline?"

She gasped nearly choking on something in the back of her throat as she was torn from her thoughts.

"Turn on the lights, love."

Klaus.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered almost inaudibly, breathing becoming increasingly more difficult by the second.

Caroline heard a chair scuff against the floor. She instinctively began to move backwards as she heard his footsteps coming toward to her. But he was too quick for her. It had always been the way. He could always so easily anticipate her. Before her hand could turn the doorknob she felt him grab her around her waist. Klaus had her pressed against the door in a matter of seconds.

He sighed contentedly, his cheek pressing against her own.

God, everything was the same. His scent, the feeling of unshaved scruff against the delicate skin on her cheek. His weight against her's.

"I needed to see you," he breathed softly in her ear. "I had to."

His voice was laboured and tired. He sounded exhausted.

Whose fault was that? She thought spitefully.

Caroline forced his body away from hers, causing him stumble back into the darkness. She stormed towards the light switch, forcing herself to feel the indignance that she knew she was more than entitled to. Caroline hated it but deep down what she really felt was the relief. She'd taken on three more classes this year just to distract herself just to prevent her from agonising about whether he was dead or alive.

Like it or not it was good to see him. More than good. It was like receiving oxygen after having her head held underwater for far too long.

During her time at Hogwarts Klaus had been the bane of her existence. He found any and every way to get underneath her skin. Like a rash, she couldn't manage to get rid of. She still remembers his cold blue/green eyes being the first pair hers landed on that day. When the sorting hat had barely grazed her head before calling screaming out Slytherin.

Being who she was, Caroline never felt like she had much in the way of competition. No one except him. They both excelled in whatever they put their mind to; quidditch, potions, charms it didn't matter; although sometimes it felt like Klaus was only good at certain things in order to piss her off and she hated him for it.

Things took a turn their fifth year, when they were appointed as prefects and then inevitably head boy and girl. Their new responsibility meant a lot of late night walks, patrolling Slytherin dungeons with no one else but each other for company.

Somehow, Klaus seemed to know her better than anyone. In a matter of weeks, their relationship escalated from sworn enemies to lovers, although they kept the affair between them.

Caroline had been worried about her friend's disapproval and she could only assume Klaus went along with the secrecy because he enjoyed the excitement. By the time graduation rolled around slowly and surely the realisation hit her that she maybe felt things for Klaus beyond sexual attraction and at times a burning desire to throttle him. Still, she couldn't be sure if he felt the same and she was too frightened to test the waters and find out.

Her post-Hogwarts plans involved her studying options abroad and Klaus was going to some fancy quidditch camp in Germany. As far as she was concerned, whatever she thought she felt, didn't matter; they were parting ways and would never see each other again.

Or so she thought.

Fate, as it happened, had other plans.

In her second year of teaching at Hogwarts, Qetsiyah the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had a nervous breakdown (relationship drama apparently) and so Alaric had had to find an immediate replacement for her. Low and behold Klaus had been the only one with the qualifications who was available straight away. Perfect.

He wasted no time and asked her out to dinner straight away.

"Purely as friends sweetheart, for old times sake,"

Knowing Klaus, she saw right through him and shut him down immediately, insisting that they keep their relationship professional for the sake of their jobs.

They'd managed to make that last for all but 3 months. She'd wound up in his bed after foolishly indulging in a heated argument with him about classroom schedules.

After it happened Caroline knew immediately that things had changed between them. It was more... intimate. No longer were they rushing between classes of having quick fumbles in the toilets of the room of requirement? They ate lunch together; they stayed up late in bed and talked for hours; they left each other little notes, on the bathroom mirror and held hands when no one was looking.

It was a relationship.

When everything began to happen with Tristesse being with Klaus was the only thing that had held her together. He was her rock. She'd practically ruined one his Henleys crying into his chest, the night Bonnie left.

Klaus shared her views on the Ministry and then some. He wasn't just upset about what was happening, he was furious. Every time someone so much as mentioned Tristesse name, his eyes would cloud over and this look of cold rage would set on his handsome features.

It was the invisibility clause that appeared to anger him the most. Once he compared Tristesse actions it to the work of Hitler.

"Identification Caroline, that's how it starts,"

She agreed with him for the most part. What the Ministry were doing was dangerous and they needed to be stopped. The problem was what Klaus wanted was to do it himself.

There had been whispers here and about a resistance. An anti-government, vigilante group, committed to undoing the damage caused by Tristesse and stopping him from passing the Prevent Bill as permanent law.

Caroline had her own selfish reasons for not wanting Klaus to get involved. She'd lost so many people already and he was one of the only things one's had left. Besides what he was doing seemed selfish.

The Mikaelson name was as old as the Salvatores and as far as everyone knew, Klaus was a pureblood. It offered him protection, hell it even offered her protection purely by association. On a certain level she respected his conviction but on another, it angered her that Klaus would willingly put himself in danger, purely on the basis of principle when there were so many had been punished already who hadn't gotten a choice in the matter.

"Someone has to stop them, Caroline,"

Four months ago, he'd left. After a huge blowout between them, Klaus had dropped off the face of the earth without so much as giving in his letter of resignation. Caroline hadn't had so much as a phone call from him in weeks.

To make matters worse, Tristesse and his party had gotten word of the resistance and were blaming the most recent Muggle-Born attacks on them. Painting them as Dark Lord sympathisers, who were posing as social justice warriors, attempting to overthrow the government and unleash anarchy within the wizarding community.

Every day the Prophet had a new story about a member of the 'so-called' resistance being apprehended by POs (Prevention officers, Tristesse's new law enforcement team) and arrested.

The problem was, nobody knew what happened to people that were brought into Ministry custody. There was still no news about Alaric and his whereabouts, much to the despair of his wife and daughters. Everyday Caroline had to busy herself with meaningless routine tasks, before in between and after classes, just to stop herself from imagining the kind of circumstances that Klaus had found himself in once he'd left.

On the worst nights, visions of his body, stiff and lifeless, lying outside the Ministry headquarters; plagued her dreams. She'd always wake eventually, drenched in a cold sweat, panting and sobbing uncontrollably.

She wanted to hate him for putting her through that. She wanted to grab him and hold onto him for dear life. She wanted to slap his stupid, stubborn face and kiss him; until she couldn't remember what she was angry about.

Most of all she wanted to go back to their school days when the dormitories had cleared out because everyone had gone home to their parents and it was just them so they could truly be themselves. They'd curl up in Klaus' bed and listen to the rain against the window as he stroked her hair and whispered sweet nothings…

And things were normal and good.

"You left Klaus! You've been gone for weeks and I've had no idea where you were or if you were taken or if you died or both! You walked away to go be a hero of finding your destiny or whatever, so why to risk it!? Why come back-"

"-Because I'm leaving the country."

Caroline gaped at him and shook her head incredulously.

"W-what are you talking about!?" she demanded, "What about staying here and fighting the good fight against the system?"

Klaus sighed and took a seat in one of her armchairs.

"We've been making progress Caroline. The resistance is real and we have real influence. Tristesse is afraid of us, that's why he keeps spreading all of those lies."

"But it isn't safe for me to be here anymore. POs turned up at my sibling's houses, demanding information about me. There wasn't much else they could do once Mikael got wind of it. But I wouldn't put it past him to try and help them to turn me in if it meant protecting the others. I almost don't blame him. They didn't choose this. I did. No reason for them to suffer for my decision." he explained.

Caroline blinked at him, dumbfounded.

"So you're leaving," she said bluntly, swallowing a lump in her throat. "By all means go, why come back and tell me. You already left once before, now you're making me watch you leave again!?" she snapped bitterly.

"Come with me," he said, extending her his hand.

She looked down at it and shook her head, backing away.

"You're serious? Just up and leave?" she choked.

"It'll only get worse from now on Caroline. I can't stand the thought of leaving you here, not knowing what could happen to you," Klaus answered, moving closer toward her.

"What about my parents? What about Stefan and Elena? Where should I even tell them I'm going!?" Caroline demanded.

Klaus sighed and let his eyes flutter shut for a moment before replying.

"It would be… better… safer, if you didn't tell anyone here where we're going," he mumbled.

"Better for who!?"

"Caroline if the POs come to question them the less they know about us the better. Do you want them to get hurt?" Klaus said harshly, grabbing her roughly by the shoulders.

"No!" she cried out, suddenly shaking uncontrollably.

"No, no, no… God, I don't want any of this I just…" she gasped for air and her legs gave out on her and she began crying in loud, fragmented sobs. Klaus caught her before her knees hit the floor and bundled her into his arms rocking her gently in his arms.

"Shhh sweetheart," he soothed.

"I don't want this," she whimpered helplessly, the familiar scent of Klaus's clothing only making her weep harder.

He allowed her to cry it out for a couple of minutes, just sitting with her in the same place on the floor, holding her and dropping kisses into her hair every so often. They sat in silence for a long while before Klaus eventually broke it.

"I haven't got much time Caroline."

She said nothing in response. Only tightening the grip her fist had around the sleeve of his jacket.

"There are ways…" he began hesitantly. "I could talk to my mate, the man who's planning on getting me out. There is a way we could possibly Stefan and Elena out too; if that's what they want. I swear to you I will do everything in my power to make that happen but you and I would have to leave now Caroline and I mean now. One suitcase with everything you need. No questions asked. Just you trusting me. Can you do that?" he asked.

"Will you do that?" he whispered into her hair and she could hear the fear choking his words as he did.

She buried her face into the grey henley he was wearing.

It smelt like broken promises.

It smelt like home.

"Yes," she replied, so softly he barely heard it. "Yes, I will."


	4. A Thin Line

A/N: Set during 5x16. Heavy Carenzo/Enzoline brotp + some Stefan/Caroline brotp and minor Klefan. (Warning: if you're a Damon/D*lena fan don't read; story includes bashing. Also mentions of rape and abuse) Not as angsty as it sounds tho.x

' _I've managed to extract the werewolf venom from Nadia Petrova's blood. The addition of the venom will make the ripper virus, even more lethal to vampires,'_

Caroline gasped softly, a small ' _Oh my God,_ ' leaving her lips. She hadn't quite believed it when she first heard about this so called 'ripper virus'.

People like Stefan were anomalies, after all some were less able to control their urges than others. Then of course there were vampires like Mikael, who willingly, purposefully fed off of their own kind for the sake of social justice. But this, this was something else all together. One homicidal vampire in the world was one thing, but a bunch of them running around with the uncontrollable desire to devour each other, could literally mean the extinction of the entire vampire race.

As much as Caroline hated to admit it, she quite enjoyed being a vampire and _alive_ for that matter. Well alive as someone like her could be considered. The point was that she was willing to do, just about whatever it took to put a stop to it and at the same time, make certain that Elena was cured once and for all.

As she continued snooping, Caroline's attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of another person behind her. She jumped in shock and whipped around.

"So werewolf's are real," the man mused. "I always thought that was, y'know… a joke,"

He was handsome, roguishly so and appeared exceedingly pleased with himself for managing to surprise her. Caroline groaned, recognising his distinctly foreign dialect. Honestly if she never ran into another snarky jerk from across the pond again, it would be too soon.

Seeing Caroline's less than impressed expression, his smile grew.

"I'm Enzo," he offered, strolling toward her, sounding more and more smug with every syllable rolling off his tongue.

Caroline clicked her tongue in retaliation and nodded.

" _The_ Enzo," she stated.

"No the other one," he grinned, impishly.

Caroline laughed humorlessly.

"Alright, ' _other_ Enzo', I don't know what it is you're doing here but I don't want any part of it," she said sternly.

"So just stay out of the way, we don't need anymore problems,"

"That's a shame-" he said as she began to walk away. "-I feel as if we were just getting to know each other,"

"I'll pass if it's all the same to you," Caroline said, uninterestedly over her shoulder.

In a second Enzo vamped sped in front of her.

"I'm just trying to be friendly, love" he said folding his arms over his chest, giving her a small petulant pout.

Caroline flashed him her best 'I'm queen bitch, you better move out of my way" look, and closed the gap between them.

"Listen," she began, keeping her voice very low and dangerous. "I don't have time for this, I have enough friends thank you and right now one of them is in serious need of my help."

"So if you don't mind I have to get back to doing that, instead of standing around having this idiotic conversation with you."

Giving him one last scathing look, she turned on her heels and strutted away.

"Such a shame you aren't even a little bit interested in my company," Enzo called out to her. "Considering my first act of friendship was going to be showing you where to find the antidote,"

Caroline came to an abrupt halt and did a slow 360, narrowing her eyes as she was faced with Enzo' smug expression.

"What? Aren't you even in the least bit impressed?" He smirked.

Suddenly the smile fell from Enzo's face and Caroline watched in horror as his body jerked and he fell to his knees.

There was a sharp, searing pain in her shoulder and then, she too found herself stumbling forward. The greyish, linoleum was the last thing she saw before she hit the ground.

And then, darkness.

Caroline awoke in dim lighting, with her head heavy and throbbing. The first thing she noticed was the pungent, overwhelming smell of damp around her; the second was another person's dull heartbeat nearby.

As she got her wits about her, she pushed herself upright, only to see Enzo huddled silently in the corner, watching her intently. Caroline's eyes widened realising that they were sitting behind bars, in some sort of basement. It was nowhere she recognised. She felt a shudder creep over her.

"Well this a nice change of scenery," Enzo said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"It's a prison cell,"

"I was being sarcastic, gorgeous,"

"No, I mean; it's a _prison cell_! Which means someone's kidnapped us!" Caroline exclaimed.

"I've got two words for you love: Wes. Maxfield,"

"Here's another two to make it clearer: Augustine. Society,"

"And how did they do it you ask-"

"Let me guess 'tranquilizer guns'? Caroline said dryly.

"Excellent, top marks. You're on the ball then. Good, looks can only get a girl so far these days-"

"-Ugh, Gosh do you ever stop talking!? I'm trying to think." Caroline groaned, pressing her hands against her temples. _She had two choice words for him._ She thought.

"If you're attempting to plot a way out of here, don't bother. The Augustine's may be a bunch of pricks but they've been specialised in the art of capturing, imprisoning and torturing vampires for decades now. I'm sure they're also more than equipped to outsmart a newborn, baby vampire, like yourself,"

In a flash, Enzo found himself pressed tightly against the wall on the far end of their cell. Caroline growled, venomously, the spidery veins beginning to form under her eyes.

"Baby vampire or not I'd still take my chances against you right now," she spat.

"What the bloody hell's wrong with you!?" Enzo gasped, gripping Caroline's wrists but not using half the strength he could have, considering their significant age gap.

"What is my problem!?" She hissed. "I'll tell you what my problem is. You. You, _obviously_ led them - Wes, the Augustine's whoever - to me. Hence why I'm here in this nasty dungeon, instead of… not here; looking for a way to help Elena?-"

Enzo blinked at her.

"I just told you that we've been captured by a group of people who specialise in torturing vampires and all you care about is the safety and well-being of Elena Gilbert?" He asked, dumbfounded.

Caroline didn't flinch, but the veins disappeared from her eyes.

"Furthermore-" he said, removing her grip with a minimal effort.

"-Do you honestly think I got went and got us taken by these lunatics, deliberately?"

"Deliberate or not, we're here, with what looks like a pretty narrow chance of us getting out," Caroline snapped bitterly.

"I still fail to see how any of this is my fault. When I approached you earlier on my attention was only to be helpful," Enzo countered.

She snorted.

"What do you want? Seriously!?"

"I want the same thing that you do: I want this vampire feeding virus out of our lives,"

"Why? You want your killing buddy back?" she mocked him. "Is killing innocent people not as fun when you're alone?"

"Right," Enzo nodded a smile pulling at his lips. "Damon mentioned you'd get a little judgy,"

Caroline shrugged.

"But then again, he also said you had a thing for accents," Enzo purred, his voice filled with suggestion.

The saccharine smile, fell from Caroline's face as her shoulders squared in defense.

"Look just- don't talk to me anymore, alright? This situation is bad enough as it is," she growled, turning her back to him and ignoring the amused chuckle that fell from his lips.

Both of their heads snapped open as the sound of heels on the ground could be heard from outside if the cell.

A key turned in the lock and then a short, brunette woman with a lot of piercings strolled in absentmindedly and flicked on the light.

Caroline flinched as her eyes adjusted. In the new clarity, she could see that the room they were in had a desk, some chairs and what worryingly resembled an operating table, with some metal utensils nearby.

When the woman came close to the cell, Caroline shot up and stopped dead in front of her.

"Let us out of this cell," she demanded, her pupils dilating.

The woman rolled her eyes and deadpanned:

"I can't be compelled,"

At the same time as Enzo chorused the same thing, behind her.

"Yes thank you. I had a feeling she couldn't." Caroline hissed. "But I figured it was worth a shot to make sure."

There was a static, crackling sound from the pocket of the girl's jeans. She reached inside and pulled out a walkie talkie. A familiar voice started speaking as she did.

" _Elizabeth, are you there? Come in if you can hear me,"_

"I'm here Wes, what's up?" she said boredly.

" _Patient status,"_ he demanded.

"Patient's are awake but still fully secured," Elizabeth replied. "Is there anything else?"

" _No you're free to go. Thank you."_

The walkie talkie clicked out and Elizabeth tucked it into her pocket and began walking toward the door.

"Seriously!?" Caroline called to her. "You're just gonna leave us here? Aren't you afraid that we'll escape,"

She turned and gave Caroline another unimpressed roll of her eyes.

"The bars you're standing behind are laced with vervain and if by some miracle you manage to get out of there, there are several guards outside who are armed and ready for you."

She was about to turn and leave but stopped, pausing at the doorway.

"You might wanna get some rest before the Professor comes; you're gonna need it,"

She was good enough to leave the light switch on before she left.

The next twenty minutes were spent in silence. Any attempts on Enzo's part to so much as make eye contact were coldly rebuffed and met with a hard glare from Caroline.

After a few more moments Enzo got up and broke the terse silence, making Caroline jump.

"Okay I give up, I can't tell if you're avoiding the issue of our impending doom, of me," he said, looking at her expectantly.

"Hmmm, well why can't it be both," she replied, with false sweetness.

"Because I've earned some company,"

Caroline frowned and looked up at him.

"Oh c'mon I've left you be, for nearly half an hour now. You could at least indulge me in a little conversation before Wes comes in and starts prodding at us."

"Why are you so intent on striking up a friendship with me anyway," she huffed, rolling her eyes.

"From what I can tell Damon's attempting to be a good boy these days. Which means if we ever get out of here, I'll be in need of a new murder buddy," he answered.

...

"I'm joking! I joke, British humour?" he said, flying to his own defense as Caroline shot him a withering look.

As Caroline turned back toward the wall Enzo, sighed and began walking toward the prison bars. He peered over at a magazine that that had been left on top of the desk nearby.

"Ah, modern women all bosom no mystery,"

"Present company excluded." he quipped, jerking his eyebrow in her direction.

Caroline released an exasperated noise from the back of her throat and looked up.

"Dear God, please tell me you are not actually attempting to hit on me. While were in captivity!? Waiting to be tortured by some psycho, mad scientist? I mean seriously!?"

"Why not?" he grinned, turning back to face her.

"From what Damon tells me I am your type: well travelled, charming accent, dodgy morals-"

"-Mmm: arrogant, tactless, completely unable to take a hint,"

"Precisely," he said lowly.

Briefly Caroline wondered exactly how much, Damon had decided to disclose to Enzo about her. The more they spoke of Caroline's romantic inclinations, the more they crept dangerously close to the subject of 'You Know Who'. A dangerous topic, one that she wished to avoid at all costs. Confessing what had happened in the woods to Stefan was hard enough and he was her closest friend and could more than empathise considering his history with Katherine.

The last thing Caroline wanted was to have a conversation about Klaus to yet another British _asshole_ , in the middle of a prison cell of all places.

She has been doing just about everything she could to push that afternoon firmly out of her mind ever since it had happened.

 _I want your confession._

 _Confession? Confession about what?_

 _Me._

But alas no luck.

Flashbacks of ripped clothes and tree bark scratching at her skin, flooded her memory. Caroline quickly pushed the intruding thoughts out of her head and convinced herself that she was shivering because of how cold the cell was.

"I'll be honest you remind me of someone I once knew," Enzo said, once again breaking her out of her thoughts.

Caroline made a noise of acknowledgement and he continued.

"She worked for the Augestine's,"

"Ah, so that means she tortured you. I'm liking this girl more and more by the second,"

"Very funny,"

"I'm just saying I can relate," she said.

Enzo laughed softly.

"Maggie was only there to observe my behavior. I quite liked her actually,"

"And let me guess, she made you want to be a _better man_ ," Caroline asked, her voice saturated with sarcasm.

"Not at all, she just reminded me that I was good all along," he said wistfully.

 _You mean Klaus? Because I saw the good in Klaus?_

Caroline shook herself and rose to Enzo's height.

"Well I'm sure that's a very endearing story, Enzo. But right now we need to figure out a way of getting out of here," she said decisively.

"There is no way out, Gorgeous," he replied, ruefully.

"Not with that attitude," she insisted, brushing past him to examine the lock on the cell.

Caroline stood there, puzzling for a moment, before the feeling of Enzo's eyes burning against the back of her neck, drew her focus away.

"What?"

"Y'know I think I completely estimated you."

"What does that mean?" Caroline asked, confused.

"Well when we woke up here together, I was worried I'd have to coach you through this entire thing. But you're obviously a fighter, probably more so than myself," Enzo replied, genuinely.

For the first time that day Caroline actually managed to muster up a smile that was completely unfeigned. That is until Enzo continued.

"I suppose Damon was wrong about you,"

"Ugh! Seriously!? What is Damon your Rabbi or something? Is everything that comes out of his mouth all sunshine and rainbows to you!?" she exclaimed.

Enzo stared at her.

"You don't like him very much do you?"

 _Huh. That was an understatement._

"I don't need to like Damon. I tolerate him,"

"For Elena's sake?" Enzo probed.

"What's it to you, anyway?" she bristled.

"I'm just curious as to what Damon could have possible done to upset you so much," he replied.

"I'm not upset,"

"But you were,"

"Look I don't need to justify myself to you, okay? The real question is, why _aren't_ you upset with Damon. Didn't he leave you in that Augustine prison place, to burn and die horribly?" Caroline pointed out.

Enzo stiffened and Caroline felt a small hint of triumph at his discomfort; glad for once, to not be the one on the receiving end of uncomfortable questions.

"It was a long time ago. You forgive and forget," Enzo answered but even he didn't look convinced by his own words.

"That doesn't sound like the sort of thing a person can just move on from,"

"Damon's my friend," he insisted. "And it's not as if I have a broad selection of those at the moment,"

Caroline shut her eyes and nodded in realisation.

"Oh I see what this is. This is about loneliness. Damon is all you have, so you're willing to forget the horrible things he did to you, because you don't want to be on your own? Is that it?"

Enzo said nothing, choosing instead to study a group of scratch marks on the opposite side of the cell.

"Wow, that's actually pretty sad,"

Enzo's head jerked toward her.

"Don't pretend to know anything about me, love,"

"I'm just saying, I'd hate to be so desperate for companionship that I'd have to trail desperately after Damon Salvatore just to feel a little less alone,"

"You know," he bit out, suddenly coming dangerously close to her. "He also mentioned that, as well as unbearably judgemental you can be; you're also insufferably annoying,"

"Oh yeah!?" Caroline snapped, rising to her feet

"Well Damon would say that, wouldn't he? He's never really, had anything particularly nice to say about me." she shot back, coming face to face with him.

"Did he tell you his other names for me? Huh Enzo? Like Blondie? Barbie? You know, constantly implying I'm dumb and because of the way I look. What about stupid, shallow, useless?"

"Am I missing something here?-"

"Oh your buddy didn't tell you? See when I was younger, back before I turned. I went though a pretty bad period in my life. In fact, why don't we just go ahead and call it adolescence. I was insecure and it felt like the people in my life would literally rather choose anything and anyone, over choosing me,"

"Damon knew this. He saw how low my self esteem was and he took advantage of me. He used me to get to Elena. He compelled me to let him feed off me and not tell anyone. He was violent he called me names and made feel like an idiot, and in between… well let's just say he had his fun with me in between,"

Enzo winced visibly and his face began to pale at the realisation.

"But I guess he wouldn't have told you about all that. I mean I doubt it's even important to him. He used me and through me away when he was done. And then, get this! As part of some kind of revenge plan, his psycho ex girlfriend tried to kill me- and succeeded. But _lucky for me_ Damon's blood was inside me so I turned and now here I am." she concluded.

Caroline stepped away from him and let out a shaky breath, feeling as if she'd just done the verbal equivalent of projectile vomit.

"Does Stefan know about this?" Enzo asked quietly.

"Why do you ask?" she mumbled.

"Well I mean supposedly he's the good Salvatore. Seems to me as if he'd have something to say about all this," he elaborated.

"Stefan, is Damon's brother and my closest friend. Elena, coincidentally my other closest friend, is in love with Damon. He even has some weird friendship thing going with my mom." she shuddered. "So honestly, it's just easier for me to just go on as normal. Forget that it happened and just deal with it,"

"That doesn't sound easier." he said softly.

She paused and met his eyes.

"Isn't that what you're doing?"

Another long stretch of silence followed that. Considerably longer than the first. In that period of time, another student came in to check on them. This one didn't speak though, he simply took stock and fired of a quick text (to whom Caroline had to assume was Wes) and left.

The worst part was probably the waiting. Not the smell of the cellar. Not the constant fear that a big, dirty rat would run past one of her legs at any second. Just anticipating what Dr. Maxfield may have in store for them was enough. Part of her wanted to ask Enzo just how bad it had been the first time around; the other part of her didn't want to know.

She needed to take her mind off of it. She needed to think about anything else.

"Tell me about Maggie," Caroline asked, startling Enzo, who was shocked to hear her speak, after nearly an hour of no communication.

He squinted at her as if he was trying to remember something then leant back against the wall and stretched.

"You know the funny thing about hope?" he said. "It can trick you into all sorts of hilariously, unrealistic scenarios,"

"So what happened?" she asked, shuffling closer to him.

"Well those pesky travellers forgot to tell me where Maggie was. Before they lit themselves on fire. Talk about a lead going up in smoke," he joked.

"Anyway, as soon as I got free of the Augustine's I spent all my time searching high and low in order to find her. To absolutely no avail,"

"Yeah, but - and no offence- but even if she still was alive wouldn't she be like- really old?"

Enzo shook his head and smiled.

"Seventy years of captivity and she was the face that I clung to. Just the notion that one day I'd get out and see her again... I don't want to date her Caroline… I wanna thank her,"

Caroline smiled softly at that. Feeling slightly less on edge now that she and Enzo were speaking to one another again.

"So go on, who is he then?"

Her eyes widened.

"Who is who?"

"The bloke, the guy that's obviously ruined you for all men British accent of otherwise,"

Caroline snorted loudly.

"I have _no_ idea what you're talking about."

"Oh come on, I saw the way your face when I mentioned what Damon had told me."

 _On second thoughts, maybe sitting in silence hadn't been so bad._

"Well, as I already explained. Damon is not a reliable source when it comes to anything. Least of all concerning me,"

"You practically blushed," he pointed out.

"Will you just drop it, okay? There's no mystery guy."

...

"Don't believe you,"

"Don't care,"

"Oh, it's only fair love, I told you all about the epic love of my life-"

"He's not my epic love! He's just some guy, who started picking on my boyfriend and kind of ruined his life, not mention he killed his mom. Then ruined our entire relationship - although that part wasn't completely his fault - but he was a pretty large part of it."

Caroline turned to see Enzo looking at her with raised eyebrows, interest obviously peaked.

She shook head at him.

"He's out of my life now… Well no except he's not, because literally no matter how hard I try to have absolutely nothing to do with him, he always seems to find away back in. Even if it's just some random conversation with a guy I barely know, in the middle of some icky dungeon… It's just, it's complicated, okay? It's over, it's nothing." she finished with a wave of her hands.

"I get it," Enzo nodded, surprising her.

"Like it or not, Gorgeous, there are just some people in this world that we cannot shake, no matter how hard we try. It's like gravity, pulling us in- despite all our kicking and screaming."

Caroline exhaled and laughed slightly, looking away from him.

"There's no need to be embarrassed. Sometimes we're drawn to things we can't explain. Even things that we probably shouldn't be. Happens to the best of us."

Caroline sat pensively for a moment digesting what Enzo said.

"-But hey what do I know? I'm hardly the best one to give advice on relationships," he said.

There was more silence and then Enzo spoke again.

"I'm sorry Caroline. You're right, I probably did lead the Augustine's to you. I hate that, that means I've subjected yet another person to this. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy,"

Seeing the anguish on his face Caroline reached out and took his hand.

"This isn't anyone's fault, okay. I'm sorry I said that. We'll get through this together," she responded comfortingly.

"It's the waiting that's the worst part," he mumbled.

"I was just thinking the same-"

"Shhh shh… Do you hear that?"

They both paused and listened very carefully for any noise outside the door.

All at once there was a loud crash followed immediately by several more and the sound of two people crying out in pain.

Instantly, Caroline was pressed up against the far wall with Enzo shielding her with his body, both of them hardly breathing as they waited for what was coming next.

The door of the prison flew open and suddenly, Stefan came into vision.

"Stefan!" Caroline cried out. "What are you doing here ho-"

"It's okay Care, we're gonna get you out of here," he responded.

"Wait we?" she asked, bemusedly.

"Stefan how did even get in here? How did you find us and get past the guards?"

Stefan swallowed and gave her that look that meant he wasn't telling her something.

"Stefan?"

"He had some help," Caroline heard a familiar voice say.

An _oh too familiar_ voice.

She gave Stefan an incredulous look before turning her attention to the man who was now standing in the doorway.

" _Klaus,_ "

"Hello love," he smiled.

"I'm just saying there's gotta be a bajillion hundred other ways, of taking down a small army of vampire hating extremists," Caroline lemented down the phone.

" _You'd be surprised, it's actually a lot harder than you think,"_ Stefan chuckled.

" _You heard from that Enzo guy? The one who gave Elena and Damon the antidote?"_

"Last time we spoke he was fine. Probably just glad to have avoided, becoming a human version of Operation,"

" _What?"_

"The board game Stefan!? Gosh, sometimes I forget you're like a million years old,"

" _One Hundred and Sixty Seven if we're being exact,"_ he corrected her, laughing humoredly.

"Whatever, just- why on Earth did you feel the need to go calling Klaus?"

" _He's an immortal hybrid, he can't be killed. The only reason I went with him is because I needed to see if you were okay,"_

Caroline huffed.

" _Hey look I know you've been through a lot over the past few months and maybe he was the last person you wanted to see. But when I called, I barely got to finish my sentence before he told me he was on his way and hung up,"_

" _I see after all this time you've still got him firmly wrapped around that little finger of yours," Stefan quipped._

She laughed.

"It's not on purpose trust me,"

" _Look, Care I have to go. All I'm saying is, it's unlikely I would've been able to get to you on time, without being taken myself, if Klaus wasn't there."_

…

" _I'll see you later Care. Try to take it easy, okay?"_

"I'll try... bye Stefan,"

The line went dead and Caroline put her phone back down on the desk.

And sat. And stared at it. Before picking it up and putting it down at least three more times. By the fourth time, she finally gained some courage and scrolled through her contacts and pressed dial on the number she had been avoiding calling for past couple of days.

He answered the phone on the second ring.

" _Caroline, to what do I owe the pleasure,"_

She paused and thought for a moment, calculating what it was she wanted to say.

" _Sweetheart? Are you still there? Is something wrong?"_ Klaus asked, his voice becoming increasingly concerned.

"No, no nothing's wrong," she assured him.

"I just wanted to thank you, I guess. For helping me out with the whole me getting kidnapped thing,"

" _Ah yes, not to worry love. When Stefan called asking for my help, I didn't hesitate for a second. The Augustine's are a group I've encountered before; a rather bothersome bunch. You get rid of five and fifty more appear in their place. Anyhow I was more than happy to be of assistance,"_ Klaus explained.

As he spoke, Caroline could practically hear him smiling down the phone. _Smug bastard._

"You know, I really should be mad with you," Caroline stated, a hint of teasing in her tone.

" _And how exactly did you come to that conclusion, love?"_

"Well technically you promised me you'd leave. You said you'd go far, far away and never come back," she pointed out.

A low rumble of laughter left Klaus' mouth, which caused a small shiver to go up Caroline's back.

" _Ah yes. My infamous pledge," he hummed. "I might've known you'd bring that up, honestly Caroline, I think you'll make someone an excellent legal representative one day,"_

" _What I promised was: I'd never again, step foot in_ _ **Mystic Falls**_ _. I'm not sure if you were paying attention, sweetheart but the prison you were being kept in was in a secret facility that sat just underneath the grounds of Whitmore University. So_ _ **technically**_ _I wouldn't say I was breaching any sort of agreement made between us regarding your boundaries, would you?"_

Caroline scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Trust you to find a loophole!" she exclaimed. "Remind me, which one of us is more of a lawyer?"

Klaus laughed in return.

" _And now? Is all is well with you now that you're safe and back in school,"_

Although she'd never admit it, Caroline blushed slightly at his concern.

"Uh yeah… yeah. I mean yes- I'm all good now,"

" _I trust the mini fridge is working to your satisfaction?"_

"Y- wait what?! How did you know... Wait? that was you!?"

" _Well we can't have your nutritional needs being neglected during your studies now can we?"_

"But-"

" _As much as I hate to cut this conversation short, I do have some quite pressing business to attend to this morning, sweetheart. So if there isn't anything else."_

"Uh- no. I just… thank you I guess,"

" _Alright then. Take care of yourself Caroline."_

She dithered for a moment and then replied.

"Goodbye Klaus,"

" _Good bye, love"_

Caroline ended the call and put the phone back on the table. She let out a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling as though something was amiss. She eventually shook it off and decided to get herself something to eat.

Walking over to the other side of the room, she stopped and crouched down in front of the little shiny grey appliance.

 _That damn mini fridge. She should've known._


	5. A Lion's Tale

A/N: Medieval ish, I guess.

Slightly inspired by GoT/Macbeth. (Basically a hot mess)

 _Flashback_

"I don't like this Niklaus, it is dark. We need to turn back, if father catches us-"

"-Father will not," Klaus said, turning to face the older boy.

"Mother gave him the stew the evening to make him sleep soundly. Father was so furious with Kol yesterday that it frightened her. He was given a great deal, so calm yourself Elijah, all will be well,"

"Fraternising with witches brother?!" Elijah exclaimed tugging on Klaus' sleeve, his eyes both angry and horrified. "Have we not been warned against the occult? These women are degenerates. I beg of you, let us not venture into places in which we do not belong."

"If Kol is to be believed then our mother is one of those degenerates you speak of-" Klaus bit out, wrenching his arm free of his brother's grip.

"-If Kol is to be believed, then there is a little man who sits on the man moon and plays the harp," Elijah hissed.

He stopped dead on the spot and stared hard at his little brother.

"Niklaus if you do not come back with me now then I swear to the Gods will I leave without you."

Klaus turned around to face him. At first he appeared shocked but his expression quickly contorted into a smug, impish grin; which was rather unsettling in the dim light they were standing in.

"Come now Elijah. We both know that isn't true."

With that, he turned and continued through the forest, confident that his older brother was following him; which of course he was.

Eventually after walking a good distance, Klaus stopped dead near a little shack on the edge of the trees. Loud screeching and cackling could be heard from the inside, which only grew louder as they drew near.

"Brother please…" Elijah hissed. Klaus ignored him and began striding boldly towards the wooden hut.

He stood on his toes and reached upwards to knock the door handle. The shack fell into silence momentarily before an eerie voice called out. "Come in little Lord."

As Klaus went to step inside Elijah quickly scurried over; slipping inside the hut with him, just in time for the door to shut behind them. Seemingly of its own accord.

"Why have you come here?" The first woman asked, eyeing Klaus suspiciously.

Supposedly this woman was Maggie the Frog, a witch and a seer. Klaus tilted his head to look her in her eyes. Despite the stories he'd heard he was determined not to be afraid. Maggie's hair was dirty and her nails were overgrown and claw like; one of her eyes was lazy and faced in the other direction; the good eye honed in on the two boys and glared at them.

"I want to know my future, tell it to me," Klaus demanded.

The witch leant forward in her chair so that she and him were nearly face to face.

"You make demands of me? A little mite like you. Cheeky, I should boil you up and have you for my supper,"

The two women sitting on the ground either side of her began to shriek and cackle at the very suggestion, one of the reaching out to poke at Elijah with a stick, licking her lips as he squirmed away from her.

But Klaus did not flinch, instead he stood as tall as he could and squared his shoulders.

 _As a lion should._ He thought.

"My father is powerful, House Mikaelson is the greatest house in the seven kingdoms-"

"-Tis certainly the richest little Lord," Maggie hummed, threading a strand of hair through her fingers.

"You'll tell me my future-"

"-Or what you'll go home and tell your father how you snuck out of bed to see old Maggie dearest?" she threw back her head let out a piercing laugh. "Doubt he'll be very pleased with you."

"-Tell me my future or I'll have you eyes carved out of your head," Klaus hissed. "Both of them,"

Maggie froze and stopped laughing. Immediately one of her friends surged forward and grabbed Klaus by the wrist. He yelped in protest and fought against her.

"Why you little whelp!" she snarled.

"No please! He's sorry, we beg your pardons my ladies, please. Take me instead!" Elijah cried out in panic.

"Let me go!" Klaus shouted, still struggling frantically against the witch's grip.

"Let him go," Maggie echoed, boredly; her good eye never leaving Klaus face.

Reluctantly, the other woman complied, shoving Klaus roughly into Elijah's chest causing them both to topple over.

Klaus stood to his feet almost immediately and shot the woman a filthy look.

"You'll regret that,"

The woman only made a menacing hissing noise through her teeth at him, in return.

"You are brave, little Lord but should mind that temper of yours, lest it should get you into trouble." Maggie purred smugly at him. "Don't want to end up like daddy do we?"

Klaus scowled at her and clenched his fists at his side. "Will you tell me my future or not?"

Maggie sat silently staring him out for a long time before she spoke again; giving Klaus an answer he didn't expect.

"Give us your hand, then."

Klaus stepped forward and offered it to her hesitantly. Before he could change his mind Maggie reached out and grabbed it impatiently. In a split second she drew a knife out from behind her and slit a cut into his thumb, causing him to cry out in pain.

Elijah, who was still on the ground sat watching the entire scene in horror, unable to even move.

Maggie squeezed at it, so that blood oozed out of the cut. She placed his thumb at her lips and drank from it before abruptly releasing it again, causing Klaus to stumble back.

"Ask," she said, looking at Klaus expectantly.

He took a deep breath and asked the first question that came to mind.

"Will I ever be king?"

Maggie chuckled softly while behind him Elijah let out an audible gasp. Klaus had always had ideas above his station but this?… He shuddered to think of how father might react if ever heard his little brother saying such things.

"You'll never be king little Lord," she tittered mockingly. "Instead you will be the most powerful man in all the realm,"

Klaus's face twisted into a frown.

"You're tricking me. That doesn't make any sense; speak plainly witch." He said irritably.

"You came to me seeking answers to your questions. These are the answers I provide. Take them or leave them," Maggie stated, folding her arms.

Klaus sighed impatiently but made no move to leave.

"Alright," huffed. "What… what will-" he hesitated.

"What will happen to my father?"

Maggie smirked knowingly at him and turned to lean sideways in her chair.

"Your _beloved_ father, will pass before you are ten and eight. But be warned, as the sun ceases to shine, so doth the moon, in turn,"

"But what does that mean!?" He growled in frustration.

"Niklaus please, this is high folly. Let us return home before the morning catches us," Elijah spoke up.

"Oh but surely the little Lord has many more questions for me?" Maggie grinned, making her bad eye turn so it stared at Elijah; causing a chill to run up his spine.

"How will I be powerful? Klaus urged. "Will I be a knight? A warrior?"

"Verily, little Lord you shall be a warrior, greater than all they that have come before thee. No man born of a woman will ever stand a chance in defeating you."

Klaus' smile grew at her words. He opened his mouth to speak again but Maggie cut him off before he could.

"Last question little Lord. Quickly, I grow wearier by the second,"

"My sister. What will become of Rebekah? Will she be married, will father send her away?"

For the first time that evening Klaus actually looked his age, vulnerability and fear crossed his features as he awaited Maggie's reply.

"Ah, thine youngest and dearest sister. Rest assured, Rebekah will remain by thy side for many many years before she is wed. Thrice will she adorn a wedding gown. Twice will her her joy turn to ashes in her mouth. The third man will be her last then never again will she mourn."

"Yet thy sister will not marry a day before they self, little Lord." Maggie finished.

"No,"

"No?"

"No,"

"What ails thee? Are we unhappy with what old Maggie hath told us?" she implored him.

"I will not be married. I will never be married. You're wrong." Klaus insisted.

"Niklaus, give her your thanks and let us take our leave," Elijah whispered, frightened of angering the women for a second time.

"Why, doubted me now little Lord? You accepted the fate I bestowed so graciously beforehand?"she asked, her voice laced with amusement.

 _I'm a bastard and I won't father anymore._ "You're wrong." Klaus insisted. "I just know it,"

"Verily, oh stubborn little Lord. Pray be calm. For thy children shall be Kings and Queens and thy wife as clever as she is pretty."

"Stop it. I've heard enough." Niklaus said firmly, backing toward the door.

"You will literally fall at her feet my lord," she called to him, before beginning to cackle uncontrollably, the women at her side doing the same.

Elijah took the opportunity and grabbed Klaus' hand, pulling him toward the door. They tore out of the shack and fled into the night towards the castle.

As Klaus ran he could still hear the women's laughter echoing inside his head.

The right hand of the King strode from his solar out into the courtyard, immediately feeling the sun heavy on his brow. The group of guards standing at the exit bowed low as he went passed.

The long winter had ended and summer had returned just in time for his sister's Name Day. No doubt suitors would be traveling from near and far to bestow gifts on her; in hopes of winning her favour and the great beauty that she was.

Of course none of them stood a chance, not a single one would be able win _his_ favour. He had his own plans to marry his sister to the king, a plot he'd been formulating for a good while now. He was certain Rebekah would have no protests on the matter; for she had been hopelessly enamoured with poor Stefan since they were young children. The only thorn in his side was that pesky Elena Gilbert, who had both the king and his brother helplessly wrapped around her dainty little fingers.

No matter, he'd find a way around it; he always did.

"Niklaus!"

He paused mid-step, as the sound of Elijah's voice shook him from his thoughts.

"Good morning brother," he called out to him as he drew nearer.

"Elijah, so good of you to finally make it. I almost believed you weren't coming," Klaus quipped in return.

"Oh surely you jest? Did you really think I could afford miss our sister's Name Day?"

"I imagine our sister would deliberately seek out a Bolton as a suitor, just so she could flay you in retaliation,"

Both men shared a chuckle as Elijah began to fall into step with Klaus.

"As you remember, brother" he began hesitantly. "Tomorrow is the anniversary of our Father's death,"

Klaus' stiffened, although he trained his face to remain neutral.

"Yes and what of it?" He replied, cooly.

"I only bring it up because as you're aware, we lost our mother two days later as she gave birth to Henrik. It has always been a very difficult time for him and Rebekah for that matter. I think it would be prudent if you spoke with him before his return to Casterly Rock; you know how fond he is of you," Elijah implored him.

Klaus nodded sincerely.

"I will speak with Henrik in due time, on that you have my word. In the meantime, attend to our sister. Make sure she isn't raining too much hell down on the servants. Presently, I mustn't tarry any longer if I wish to be ready for the tournament."

Elijah turned and frowned at him as he turned to leave. "Brother, are you not becoming slightly old for jousting," Elijah asked, incredulously.

Klaus paused and turned to grin at him.

"It's a celebration Elijah, lighten up,"

Klaus stood at the side of the arena as the stewards adjusted his armour. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Rebekah being fawned over by a long haired gently on bent knee in front of her. Although he did not recognise him specifically, he recognised the house colours of the Tully's on his garments. He scoffed to himself at the thought of his sister living in the River Runs.

When he was fully suited he mounted his horse and awaited his opponent. After a moment there was a buzz of chatter amongst the crowd as the man in question rode in on a white stallion.

To his surprise, the knight did not remove their helmet and greet him; as was the custom. This was not only disrespectful it was disconcerting. Klaus wasn't a fan of riddles or mystery. People with something to hide were a danger to him until he uncovered the truth to use for his own purposes.

"Show yourself!" He demanded, calling across the arena to his opponent.

The knight beckoned over one of their squires and murmured something to him. The squire paled and glanced back up the knight who nodded firmly. Sheepishly the squire made his way over to Klaus, struggling to meet his gaze as he stood before him.

"Speak," Klaus ordered him.

"Beg pardons, my Lord. Your opponent claims th-that… that they will not remove their helmet… uh- until they have defeated you my Lord," the squire bowed low and scurried away before Klaus had a chance to say anything more.

Oddly, instead of anger, he felt laughter rumble in the pit of his stomach.

"When I have defeated you," he called out to the knight. "I will remove your helmet myself and perhaps your head if the mood takes me,"

The knight made no response. They only assumed the position to charge and waited for Klaus to do the same. Klaus took his helmet from one his squire and put it on before mirroring his opponent's posture.

Years later when asked about that day Klaus would tell you that he had never felt more confident. A joust was something he could do with his eyes closed. But as he charged forward on his horse and he and his opponent reached middle ground; nothing could prepare him for the searing sensation of pain in his flying six feet into the air and landing hard on the other side of the arena. The crowd gasped loudly and began murmuring amongst themselves. Faintly Klaus could hear the sound of his sister calling his name. He couldn't reassure her every if he wanted to, his head refused to stop spinning.

He felt himself being lifted by each of his arms as two of his squires rushed to his aid. They removed his helmet and propped him up against their shoulders. Klaus ignored them as they persistently questioned if he was alright. Although his vision was blurred he could just about make out his opponent, who had now dismounted their horse and stood stationary beside it.

"Bring him to me," he gasped out, to no one in particular.

"My Lord?" The squire on his left questioned.

"The knight, bring him to me," he demanded.

Another squire rushed over to where the knight stood and spoke quietly to them. His opponent came toward him, far too slowly for Klaus' liking - although that might've just been the dizziness. When the finally stood face to face Klaus shrugged off one of the squires and stumbled forward.

"Show yourself." He repeated verbatim.

The knight lifted their hands and began to remove their helmet, the crowd gasped even louder and went into a frenzy as long blonde locks began to fall out from underneath the metal. All of a sudden Klaus felt his rage melt as he came face to face with one of the most beautiful creatures he'd ever encountered. The woman's eyes met his and he found himself breathless. Literally, she'd knocked the wind out of him.

"Who are you?" He whispered, almost reverently.

"If it pleases you my Lord, I am Caroline of House Forbes and I fought you today as my father gave his word, that if I should win; I would be allowed to choose my own hand in marriage." she answered

"My apologies for any injuries you might've sustained my Lord,"

Although in truth the young maid's countenance looked anything but sorry.

A smile formed on Klaus face before he could stop it. He took Caroline's hand without thinking and pulled her toward him.

"Lady Caroline," he marvelled "But how can this be? No man born of a woman has ever had a hand in my defeat since the days of my youth," he proclaimed, his blue eyes searching hers with curiosity.

"That may be, but you see my Lord…" She stepped forward and spoke softly into his ear.

 _"_ _I am no man."_


	6. If Three's a crowd then Ten is

_**Katherine & Elijah**_

"Katerina, are you planning on taking that entire bag of shoes with us on vacation?" Elijah queried, edging cautiously in Katherine's direction.

Katherine turned her head ever so slightly toward him, arching a perfectly plucked eyebrow in response.

"Yes… and?"

"You are aware that Niklaus and Caroline have invited us on a skiing expedition?"

"Is there a point you're trying to make here 'Lijah?" Katherine asked bored.

"I'm simply bemused as to why you feel the need to pack such excessive amounts of… footwear for one trip. To a place where we'll be surrounded by snow no less,"

"Don't be silly, Elijah. I have no intention of wading around in snow in £1000 boots. These-" she said holding up a pair of gold, strappy, heels. "-are for the cool night clubs the place is bound to have scattered about,"

"I hope you're not thinking of dragging me along with you," Elijah asked wearily, taking down his suitcase from the shelf and unzipping it.

Katherine smirked and wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"If you'd only loosen up and have fun once in awhile-"

"I have plenty of fun, I'll have you know," he sniffed.

"Ah yes, afternoon tea at the ivory," Katherine mocked, in an overly exaggerated British accent. "Is that your idea of fun?"

"Ignoring your crass attempt at mocking me," Elijah began. "I would ask you as kindly as possible to refrain from over packing your belongings this time around, dearest. We wouldn't want a repeat performance of the last… incident."

"Alright, first of all, I don't know what that bitch at the check in desk was thinking but I was nowhere near overweight. Just because her pathetic flight attendant salary isn't enough to buy her a Louis V wallet, much less a luggage set! I'm telling you, Elijah, she had it out for me," Katherine hissed.

"Yes dear, but just in case hmm?" he hummed, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Katherine huffed irritably before her pout curled up into a devious smirk.

"Are you looking forward to joining the mile high club?" she asked suggestively.

Elijah sighed.

"Katerina."

 _ **Bonnie & Kol**_

"Absolutely not. No."

"And why not. I'm sure it's at least in the top 10 on your barrel list."

"Number one it's called a Bucket list and number two, no, having sex on a public plane is definitely not on my list of things to do before I die," Bonnie grumbled, stuffing some sweaters into a suitcase.

"Please darling, do you think anyone in my family flies commercial? Least of all me,"

"What are you going to do, compel us a private jet?" Bonnie asked uninterestedly.

"No need, I have a mate who owns a bunch of them," he replied.

"Well, I hope this friend of yours is willing to fly us there."

His eyes fidgeted uncomfortably.

"KOL, YOU ARE NOT FLYING US ALL THE WAY TO SWITZERLAND!?" She screamed

"Oh come on…"

"Are you forgetting that some of us still have very human bodies!?"

"So I'm not allowed hot, sticky, plane sex-"

"Kol.."

"-Or to fly the plane. Is there anything I am allowed to do?"

Bonnie lifted her head and gave him an overly sweet smile.

"You can sit quietly and let me enjoy my book during the flight."

Still smiling, Bonnie leant over and gave Kol a chaste peck on the lips as a deep frown formed on his handsome face.

 ** _Caroline & Klaus_**

"Oh don't pout!"

"I'm not pouting," Klaus mumbled petulantly, the dark scowl on his face, setting in even further.

"He said, pouting," Caroline responded.

When Klaus' face didn't change Caroline expelled a heavy sigh and turned away from her large polka-dot suitcase to face him.

"Look the whole, 'going on a winter vacation' thing was your idea," she pointed out.

"Yes, alone. I thought I had made that abundantly clear,"

"Oh, Klaus, just do this for me? This is the first time in literally forever that you and your sibling aren't running from your crazy father, or dead or daggered in a somewhere. You're telling me you're not even a little bit happy about that?"

Klaus made a noncommittal sound, wincing as Caroline whacked him on his shoulder.

"Besides, best of all, this is the first time that everybody's with someone and happy. You've got me. Finn and his girlfriend took the cure and are somewhere in Wisconsin popping out babies somewhere-"

"Mmm and every other one of my siblings have conveniently shacked up with a member of your friendship group," Klaus complained.

"That's not entirely true. Katherine and I are still not exactly what you'd call friends. Plus your older sister hooked up with your friend from 400 BC, didn't she?" Caroline said teasingly.

"I'm not that old love," he grumbled.

Caroline rested down her tablet on her suitcase and walked over to the end of the bed where Klaus was perched and straddled him.

Although his face remained unhappy looking, he instinctively shifted back on the bed to accommodate her and let his arms snake around Caroline's waist.

"Look, this is a chance to bring everyone together. It's only for one weekend-"

"-A few hours with my family and your friends is enough to make a saint swear,"

"Still, doing this would make me really happy," Caroline expressed with a small tilt of her head, squeezing his shoulders gently and applying a bit of what Klaus still refused to address as "cute puppy eyes'.

Klaus expelled a small growl but allowed his face softened ever so slightly.

"Think of it this way, if I'm right; we enjoy a beautiful weekend. If I'm wrong, then at least you have the benefit of saying I told you so,"

The corners of Klaus' lips turned upwards at that.

"Ugh seriously!? Of course, that's what makes you more agreeable," Caroline scoffed.

"Well sweetheart, there are other things that could convince me to be more... agreeable," he hummed, gripping Caroline's hips firmly and nuzzling his face into the soft skin of her neck.

"Oh really?" Caroline giggled as she felt soft kisses being peppered across her jaw.

"Mmmm,"

Suddenly she felt herself being flipped as Klaus threw the onto the mattress, pinning her underneath him. A loud squeal escaping from her mouth.

 _ **Enzo & Rebekah**_

The mug of coffee nearly fell from Enzo's hand and shattered, as he was startled by the high pitch scream that rang through the house. Immediately he was up and vamp sped his into the bedroom, expecting to find something much worse than he did, Enzo watched in awe as Rebekah stood in the middle of the room with clothes and shoes of every single colour, strewn haphazardly about the place.

Noting Enzo's presence Rebekah whipped around to face him.

"You're not going to believe it! " she exclaimed.

"The suitcase came to life and started vomiting out clothes," Enzo offered dryly.

Judging by the less than impressed look he received that was most certainly not the correct response. He flashed her a sheepish look in response and waited for her to offer an answer.

"Look what's happened to my favourite pair of Gucci's!" Rebekah lamented. Holding up the tattered shoes and giving something in the corner an accusatory look.

Hearing the timid whimpering noise that followed, Enzo finally registered the presence of their French bulldog puppy, Chloe.

"Ruined. Completely destroyed, I'm livid."

"I hate to be the one to bring this up, love. But it was your idea to get a dog in the first place," Enzo pointed out.

Rebekah shot him another furious glare.

"Alright. Alright," he said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "What can I do?"

"Replace this limited edition, one of a kind pair of stilettos and get me a pet who doesn't destroy half my things!"

Chloe let out another pitiful whimper as Rebekah stalked angrily out of the room.

"Right… how about a glass of wine instead?" Enzo called after her.

The puppy trotted over to where he stood, bumping its head against his feet, obviously looking to garner some sympathy.

"Naughty girl," he reprimanded, picking her up. "You've put mommy in an extraordinarily bad mood."

Chloe tilted her head to allow Enzo better access for the head scratches she was receiving.

"Just between you and me do the expensive shoes taste better?"

 **2:09 am Zurich, Switzerland.**

 _ **Lucien & Freya**_

"You know considering how expensive this place is, you'd think it would have thicker walls," Lucien murmured.

"Do you think they'll ever stop?" Freya responded, sinking further down into the bed and pressing both ends of the pillow against her ears,"

"Well they've been at it for the best part of an hour and from the sounds of it thinks are just starting to get heated." he replied.

"Remind me why we agreed to this again?"

"Because you've never been skiing before and you're currently in a relationship with the best instructor this side of the globe," Lucien grinned.

"Okay… remind me why I agreed to this relationship again?" Freya deadpanned.

"Well, my simply irresistible charms one would assume- ah!"

Lucien cried out as Freya hit him over the head with a pillow.

"Well love if it's rough and tumble you want you only needed to say," Lucien purred rolling on top of her.

"Are you kidding me!? What if we-"

"-Make to much noise and wake the whole house? I'm quite sure that ship has sailed love."

He paused before continuing, "besides, my sweet little witch. That's where the wonders of magic come in. One silencing spell should do the trick," he winked.

 _ **Katherine & Rebekah**_

"Ugh, where's Bonnie when you need her? I could seriously do with a silencing spell right about now, " Caroline complained resting her head against Klaus' chest.

"I could have done with one of those a thousand years ago," he replied.

"For the last time. Rebekah, sweetie. This Donna Karan scarf is mine. Yours must've gotten lost somewhere during the flight," Katherine bit out, with a saccharine smile.

"Listen here you little trollop-"

"Now love no need for that," Enzo said gently.

"Elijah!? Are you going to let your sister talk to me like that!?"

"Really Rebekah is there really any need for that sort of vulgarity," Elijah said, the tiredness evident on his face.

"She's stolen my scarf, Elijah! I wore that scarf the day Princess Grace was inaugurated!"

"Well, that should tell you something. You've been around for such a long time Rebekah, you could have left that scarf anywhere. Maybe you're getting forgetful in your old age,"

If it hadn't been for the intuition of both Elijah and Enzo, who moved to grab Rebekah before she could lunge at Katherine; there would be no stopping Rebekah from grabbing the brunette and throwing her head-first into the fireplace.

"I hate to say I told you so," Klaus shouted over the chaos.

"Then don't." Caroline snapped.

 **1:30pm**

 _ **Bonnie and Kol**_

"Well I'll admit this is kind of relaxing," Bonnie conceded, sinking down into the steaming hot tub.

"I hate to say I told you so but I am full of brilliant ideas," Kol replied.

"Well, you do occasionally have a few good ones." Bonnie hummed, letting her head tilt back.

"What was all the drama about last night?"

Kol rolled his eyes.

"Some business between Kitty Kat and my sister about a scarf?"

Bonnie lifted her head and gave Kol an incredulous look.

"That's what Nik said this morning. I couldn't tell you first hand, I didn't hear it, "

"Yeah, that's because you were asleep the whole time," Bonnie complained. "Ugh I swear you could sleep through a hurricane,"

"I have done so on several occasions,"

Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"I don't even wanna know."

"So," Kol drawled out extending his limbs so he could stretch himself. "Because of all the jet lag from the plane ride here-"

"-Do vampires even experience jet lag?" Bonnie asked her face scrunching in curiosity.

"Whatever it was," Kol said with a shake of his head. "It meant that my prowess wasn't at its usual optimum,"

"Your, what now!?" Bonnie spluttered in amusement.

Kol smirked.

"I was tired and now I'm not."

With a grin, Kol reached over and snaked his arm around Bonnie's waist pulling her closer to him. She giggled into the kiss as he pressed his lips to hers and then in feathered kisses down her neck.

"Kol," Bonnie hissed, making what many would consider a pretty poor effort to push him off of her. "Here?"

"Well where else?" he murmured mischievously, sliding his hand under her bikini bottoms.

Bonnie sighed, resigning herself to relax and enjoy Kol's ministrations. Moaning into his neck and letting her sharp nails run down his shoulder blades. Just as Kol had finished working on the strings of Bonnie's bikini top, the sound of the latch turning could be heard and the pair jumped apart in surprise as Elijah pulled the door open.

Bonnie let out a shriek of embarrassment, ducking down into the water and wrapping her arms around her chest, holding her top in place.

"Kol, Miss Bennett- ah… my sincere apologies-"

"What the bloody hell Elijah?!" Kol exclaimed. "Does no-one in this house have any sense of privacy? Even when we're in a different country, for pity sake!"

"Again Kol I apologise, intruding on the two of you was not my intention. You see Katerina suggested that she and I spend some alone time and-"

"Ugh enough, we get it!" Kol insisted, his face twisting in disgust. "Just go will you."

A thoroughly mortified Elijah gave them a final apologetic nod of his head before shuffling awkwardly from the room.

"It's safe now darling," Kol told Bonnie, who had had her face half buried in his shoulder for the majority of the conversation.

He recoiled in pain as Bonnie's hand collided with the wet skin on his arm with a loud slap.

"You and your bright ideas!" Bonnie growled lifting herself out of the hot tub and cursing under her breath as she attempted to do her strings back up.

 **4:15 pm**

 _ **Enzo & Klaus**_

"This was a bad idea," Caroline muttered to herself. Frowning as she examined herself in the mirror.

Kol apparently had a friend who owned half the clubs in Zurich; so the plan was to steadily drink their way through all of them in one night (her Katherine and Kol that was- plus Rebekah, who had pretty much invited herself) and come home. Which was fine, except so far Caroline had yet to find an outfit she didn't completely loathe.

Looking for a different perspective she shuffled down the hall and knocked twice on Enzo and Rebekah's door.

"Enzo are you in there?"

A moment later there was a shuffling noise and Enzo stuck his head around the door, smiling warmly at her.

"What's up Gorgeous?" he greeted warmly.

"I need help," Caroline said. "What do you think of this outfit?"

Enzo stood back and squinted at her for a moment, then motioned for her to spin around which she did obligingly.

"I like it. But you should change this belt for the one you're holding in your hand."

Caroline held the belt up against her clothes and smiled and nodded in agreement.

"You're wrong, of course," a familiar voice said, drifting around the corner. "No man with an inch of self-respect would attempt to dress a woman like that. I find myself pitying my sister even more now,"

"Caroline happened to like my choice," Enzo said stepping forward to meet Klaus' gaze, face to face.

Klaus turned to Caroline.

"Leave the Paco Rabanne belt on sweetheart,"

Enzo frowned.

"You can't put a Paco Rabanne on a Pattou,"

"Well she's not going to wear a pattou," Klaus stated.

"What's wrong with a Pattou?-"

"-Nothing. If you're fat,"

"Uh hello, I am still here!?" Caroline said irritably.

Klaus turned and gently rested his hand on Caroline's shoulder.

"Caroline, love, the Dior dress hanging up in the room goes much better with the Rabanne,"

Enzo sighed impatiently and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It won't match,"

Klaus' eyes widened and he turned to stare at Enzo as if he had just mortally offended him.

"It. Doesn't. Have. To match."

Caroline between the two of them and rolled her eyes; sick of watching them posture she shoved past them and continued down the hall.

"Forget it. I'm just gonna swallow my pride and ask Katherine instead."

 **2:05 am**

 _ **Katherine and Rebekah**_

"Has anyone tried Katherine?" Caroline said urgently holding her phone to her ear.

"I've tried Katerina's cell phone repeatedly," Elijah said rubbing his furrowed brow. "No response,"

Caroline had to stifle a laugh when she thought about how comical it was that Elijah still looked so composed, despite the situation. What with his navy blue pajamas made from the most expensive silk to his hair which wasn't single strand out of place. He even had his watch still on.

"We're stationed on top of a mountain surrounded by snow; I'm sure they couldn't have gotten far," Freya said patting Elijah's shoulder comfortingly.

"Mmm, and of course there's the issue of the two of them being supernatural creatures of the night. So at least them catching hypothermia isn't the main concern." Lucien pointed out, taking a swig of scotch.

"Not exactly helpful mate," Enzo muttered.

"So neither of you saw them when you left the club?" Bonnie asked in Caroline and Kol's direction.

Kol gave her an unconcerned shrug.

"We assumed they were somewhere behind us."

"Ugh, I feel terrible," Caroline said pressing her face into her palms.

"There, there, sweetheart." Klaus soothed, coming behind her and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "Lucien's quite right. Both Rebekah and Katerina's substantial vampire capabilities will keep them very much alive in the snow I promise."

Caroline shook her head.

"That's not what I'm worried about, Klaus. They're alone, unmediated. What's to stop them from getting into a fight over lip gloss and murdering, each other?!"

Before Klaus could answer there was a loud bang and the front door swung open abruptly, only to reveal Katherine and Rebekah propping each other up and stumbling into the living room; each woman's ankles looking as if they were about to snap in the outrageously tall pair of heels they were sporting.

"WE'RE BAAACK," Katherine sung, throwing back her head and belting as loud as she possibly could.

"Shhhhhhh," Rebekah scolded "You'll wake everyone,"

"Too late," Elijah's called out giving them both a stony and unimpressed look.

"Ooooouuu, hi there loveeer," Katherine slurred, tottering over to where Elijah stood and flinging her arms around his neck.

"Elijah," Rebekah bellowed, propping herself against the wall and pointing her finger accusingly at him. "Why didn't you tell me how much fun Caitlyn is?"

Katherine hiccupped and giggled into Elijah's neck.

"Katherine silly,"

"Katherine, Katy, Katerina; I can't keep up," Rebekah said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Elijah?"

"Well sister, considering the two of you have hated one another for over a century, I considered attempting to sell you on Katherine's good qualities, a fruitless operation,"

"Nonsense!" Rebekah protested, still at the top of her voice. "I love Karolina, we're practically sisters."

Kol snickered.

"I can't wait to bring that one up tomorrow," he murmured to Caroline. "Oi! Bekah, can we get that in writing?"

"That's enough," Klaus growled. "Lorenzo, make yourself useful and help get my sister into bed,"

"Now Nik, I'm sure Enzo's fairly skilled at getting our sister into bed by now," Kol quipped.

"Gross Kol," Caroline complained as everyone groaned simultaneously.

"Don't worry I'm on it," Bonnie said grabbing Kol by the ear and pulling him toward their bedroom.

"But I'll miss the show," Kol pouted, just as Rebekah and Katherine broke out into a chorus of 'All That Jazz".

"Bedtime idiot," Bonnie insisted.

 **20 hours later**

"Don't you want to go to bed love?" Klaus implored, resting two mugs of hot cocoa on the coffee table and slumping down next to her on the couch.

Caroline shook her head.

"No, I'm just going to sit here and dwell on the monstrosity that was this weekend."

Klaus pulled her in close and placed a sympathetic kiss on her forehead.

"You can say I told you so now," Caroline grumbled.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Klaus mumbled with a smirk.

Suddenly there was a buzzing noise and all the lights in the house were off.

 _"Bloody hell!?"_

 _"I swear to God somebody better have a good explanation for this because I'm not going out with half straightened hair!"_

 _"My popcorn wasn't done yet."_

 _"Guys, seriously!? What is with all the yelling?"_

 _"Honestly Kol whatever you've done, reverse it immediately."_

 _"Ah, that's nice, when in doubt blame everything on me."_

 _"I hate everyone in this blasted family."_

Caroline turned her head and shot Klaus a pointed look. Even in the semi-darkness of the moonlight, he could tell what it meant.

He sighed.

"Alright, love. If you insist."

"I do."

"I told you so."

"Yes," Caroline huffed "You did."


	7. A Novel Idea

**Summary:** Caroline is a famous author (one of Klaus's favourites) and Klaus comes to her rescue at a bar.

"You're in a good mood,"

" _Sod off_ ,"

Marcel flashed his friend one of his trademark grins in response; his unnaturally white teeth almost fluorescent in the dimly lit bar.

"I take it the break-up didn't go as planned?"

"You could say that, yes," Klaus muttered in response.

"Y'know, you'd think you'd be over the moon; Aurora was batshit crazy, you said it yourself, you're free now. That sounds like cause for celebration to me," Marcel said, taking a sip of his drink.

"I'm not mourning over the ending of our relationship, I'm far more occupied, thinking about the priceless antique that was broken in the midst of the tantrum Aurora threw in my apartment. My regret is not bringing her to a more public venue to break the news." Klaus lamented.

"What's more-"

Klaus pulled down the sleeve of his henley, revealing the bandage wrapped securely around his wrist.

"Ouch," Marcel winced. "What happened there?"

"Stray shards of glass, from the mirror in the hall in my apartment. Another victim of Aurora's scorn,"

Marcel let out a low whistle and shook his head.

"Well look at it this way. You got it over with, the band-aid has been ripped off. Time to move on. There are dozens of pretty girls in this bar tonight,"

"I think not," Klaus growled in response. "I'm steering well clear of the entire female race for the foreseeable future,"

Marcel threw back his head and let out a hearty laugh.

"Now that's a load of crap and you know it Mikaelson," he stretched and rose from his seat. "Well since you're obviously in no mood to be my wingman tonight, I'm just gonna have to go it solo,"

He turned his attention over to a group of girls in the corner of the bar, particularly a petite girl in the centre in a gold tight fitting dress.

"Don't drink too much man," Marcel said, turning and patting Klaus on the shoulder. "It's unlikely I'll be around to carry you home."

Klaus gave him little more than an unamused grunt in response and watched as Marcel made his way to the other side of the room, in hopes of finding someone to go home with. He scanned the room, his irritation only growing seeing the masses of people sitting in groups, drinking, chatting loud and obnoxiously and having a good time when he wasn't. The only reason he'd dragged himself out of his house that evening because he'd already promised Marcel that he'd meet him; plus it was a toss up between sitting here drinking alone and staying in his apartment which currently resembled a set from a disaster flick.

As he looked around, his eyes landed on an attractive blonde propped up at the bar. Despite his recent declaration, he couldn't help that his interest peaked. She has mostly turned away from him but what he could see, he liked. She was slim and wore a tight figure hugging lace dress with a black leather jacket slung over her shoulders; the tall stilettos she wore made her toned, shapely legs look as if they went on for days. Klaus' lips curled, she was most definitely his type. Even if he was keeping away from any and all members of the female sex for the evening, there was no harm in blonde turned and swept the hair from the side of her face and Klaus felt his mouth go dry. Not just because the woman in question was as stunning as he'd anticipated but because he knew her. _Well_ , knew _of_ her.

She was Caroline Forbes, his favourite author as far as modern literature went. Not only were her collection of Pulitzer-winning detective novels, some of the most complex and innovative books he'd ever read but she was well… gorgeous. Out of the few television appearances she'd made for interviews, Klaus was embarrassed to say that he'd seen them all. He'd rather carve out his own eyeballs than admit it to anyone out loud but he did have a little bit of crush on the young was perfectly justifiable. Her beauty aside, Caroline was extremely intelligent and eloquent when she spoke; she donated a generous amount of the profit she earned from her writing to charity and she laughed like an angel.

Okay, so he maybe had more than a little crush on her, however, he was glad to say it was nowhere near obsessive stalker level. There was no candlelit shrine built to her in his bedroom. He found her attractive yes but mostly what he felt was a respectful admiration for all that she'd achieved. He never dreamed he'd actually be seeing her in person, though.

Suddenly, to her left, a tall dark-haired man began to approach her. Klaus' heart sank, assuming him to be her boyfriend. It made sense that Caroline would be taken, any man with eyes would jump at the opportunity to be with her. Watching the scene from where he sat, Klaus noticed Caroline's body language change as the man approached. She didn't exactly look pleased to see him, in fact, she quite visibly recoiled as he came closer. The man gave her a lecherous grin and propped the top half of his body against the top half of the bar. After further observation, Klaus could only conclude that Caroline was being 'hit on' as Kol would put it and if he was reading the situation right, the man's advances were rather unwanted.

Klaus rolled his eyes as he took another sip of bourbon. If it was one thing he couldn't stand it was watching a grown man harass a woman when it was quite clear they wanted nothing to do with them. Admittedly, his own tactics for soliciting women could often be described as… _persistent_. But even he could tell when a lady was quite visibly uncomfortable. This man leering at Caroline was either oblivious to her disgust or deliberately ignorant to it. Klaus felt the anger rise inside of him. In hindsight, what he was about to do was impulsive and could have ended very badly for him but by the time this realisation had kicked in, he was halfway across the room.

"Sorry I'm late love," he said loud enough for both the guy and Caroline to hear him. The man glanced up looking visibly irritated, while the look on Caroline's face, in contrast, was one of stark relief for the interruption.

"You wouldn't believe the traffic," Klaus continued stepping in between them. Then in a bold move, he leant down and brushed his lips against Caroline's cheek noting how good her perfume smelt as he did. He took it as a good sign when Caroline didn't slap him for his little stunt. Standing back up to full height, Klaus regarded Caroline appreciatively (because he was in character, obviously).

"You look, incredible sweetheart," he murmured, turning his back to the man and giving Caroline a pointed look. She appeared to comprehend he was attempting to judging by the way he met his eyes.

"Thank you.. hun," Caroline replied, looking up at him shyly from under her lashes, the previous look of slight shock having left her face. Klaus couldn't deny feeling a little smug about the blush that had risen on Caroline's cheeks when he'd kissed her. They held each other's gaze a little longer than expected, the instant connection between them obvious. Caroline's top row of teeth bit down gently on the soft pink flesh of her lower lip and for a moment Klaus forgot all about the other man.

In fact, Klaus just about heard the disgruntled cough that left the man's lips. Turning around sharply, Klaus narrowed his eyes and gave the man the deadliest look he could muster.

"Was there something that you wanted, mate?" he asked, making sure to put an extra bite into that last word.

The man stood up and gave him an assessing look. The guy was at least a foot taller than him but Klaus hadn't lost a fight since he was seven and was rather confident in his abilities (having Kol as a sparring partner through childhood had been excellent preparation). Whether the look he gave him had been adequate intimidation or the man just hadn't favoured his odds that night Klaus didn't know. But instead of instigating an altercation, the man let out another awkward cough, mumbled an apology and left.

Once he was certain the man had left, Klaus turned back toward Caroline who was regarding him curiously. Hesitantly, he gestured to the seat next to her. When she didn't protest he took a seat. Caroline took a slow sip of her drink, keeping eye contact with him the whole time and then spoke.

"I appreciate you doing that," she said, giving a small smile.

It took Klaus a moment to realise that she'd spoken, as he was still fixated on her lips; especially when her tongue darted out to lick the taste of her drink from her lips. This sort of situation was peculiar to him. He hadn't been made nervous by a woman's presence in a very long time. Certainly not in his adult life. Clearing his throat he managed to choke out an answer.

"It's really no trouble love. A man really shouldn't need the presence of another man to get him to desist with his unwanted advancements," he replied sincerely.

Caroline flashed him one of her brilliant smiles and Klaus felt the air catch in his throat.

"I couldn't agree more," she smiled and extended her dainty hand toward him. "It's Caroline by the way,"

Klaus bit back the words " _I know_ " escaping his lips and extended his own larger hand to take hers.

"Klaus," he offered, giving her a dimpled smile, which made that delicious blush creep back onto her face.

"Are you drinking Klaus?" Caroline asked demurely. He flashed her another grin and signalled the bartender and asked for another bourbon, barely pausing to mourn the half finished glass he'd left in the now empty booth he was sitting in.

"So what brings here this evening Caroline if you don't mind me asking? I couldn't help but notice that someone as lovely as you were drinking alone before you were so rudely interrupted of course."

"Well, I'm actually here doing a little research," she answered tucking her hair behind her ear and taking another sip of her drink.

"Really?" Klaus replied arching his eyebrow in interest.

"Mhmm, I'm an author."

"Oh? Anything I would have heard of?" he asked, playing coy.

"I wrote my latest collection a while ago; The Mystic Falls Mysteries?"

"Caroline? As in Caroline Forbes?"

She pressed her lips together and nodded.

"As a matter of fact, I happen to be quite familiar with your work. You're very talented, love."

Caroline flushed prettily and Klaus smirked.

"Thank you, it's always nice to know someone appreciates your work,"

"Would it be too impertinent of me to ask for a preview of your next novel?" he asked leaning in and giving her a mischievous look. Caroline bit her lip and shook her head.

"Well, that's going to be a little difficult considering I have no idea what's it's going to be about yet. What I can tell you is that it's set here, in New Orleans. I wanted to come out here and get a real authentic taste of the social scene around here,"

"And how are are you enjoying it so far?" Klaus implored her.

"It's certainly different from Virgina," she laughed.

Klaus chuckled in response and smiled invitingly.

"Well if you need a tour guide sweetheart, I'd be happy to accommodate. You won't find a person who knows the city better,"

Caroline's eyes glittered in amusement.

"Is that so? Well that doesn't strike me as a Southern accent, that you've got there,"

"You've caught me there sweetheart. I'm originally from the UK, but I've been living here in the states since I was a child. I've never quite managed to shake the accent, though," he confessed.

"I imagine, it's beer goggles for the women out here," Caroline said looking at him over her drink.

"The accent does come with certain perks I suppose. Although I suppose it depends on who you ask." he paused. "How am I doing so far?"

"Hmm," Caroline mused, biting down on her lip in that infuriating way that had him struggling to grab her and drag her somewhere private and preferably soundproof.

Caroline turned and flashed him coquettish smile.

"Ask me again in an hour,"


	8. The Devil On My Shoulder

Prompt: A, B, and C go out for a night of fun. B has the biggest crush on A but doesn't have the guts to admit it. Someone starts hitting on A and A is obviously uncomfortable. C tries to convince B to go pretend to be their boyfriend/girlfriend but B is too nervous, so C goes and saves A from the creepy flirt and B is uncharacteristically grumpy for the rest of the night.

"You are such a wuss," Katherine hissed, shooting Klaus a withering glance as she sipped her Corona.

"Piss off," Klaus snarled, the sullen expression setting even deeper into his handsome features.

"I'm being nice, there are much more explicit words I could use to describe what a coward you are. One of them being another word for cat,"

"Remind me why it is that I tolerate you, Katerina?" Klaus said, turning to glare at her.

"Pssh, please. If it's anyone tolerating anyone in this relationship, it's me. Especially when you're like this." Katherine answered

"And what would that be?"

"Lovesick and pathetic," she shot back at him.

Klaus just let out a growl in response and turned his attention back to the blonde on the other side of the bar, that he'd previously been focused on.

They both watched as Caroline tossed, her perfect head of soft curls to the side and sighed exasperatedly as the guy who'd been hitting on her for the past fifteen minutes, continued rambling on about himself, quite obviously oblivious to her disdain.

"Oh come on!?" Katherine exclaimed. "That creepy guy has been hitting on her for ages now and she's obviously not interested. Now's your chance Mikaelson. Swoop in there and play the hero."

"And do what exactly?" Klaus asked.

"Uh, I don't know? Muscle in there and pretend to be her boyfriend or something." she shrugged.

"I doubt Caroline will appreciate me 'muscling in'. The point is I'm not her boyfriend, what makes you think that two men making unwanted advances is any better than one?"

"The point is, Mikaelson, is that you want to be her boyfriend. So act like it, go over there and show her that you're boyfriend material." Katherine insisted.

"Since when are you so invested in my love life?" Klaus grumbled, taking a swig of beer.

"Since it became less amusing and just downright depressing, to watch you brooding over Forbes. I mean seriously, it's been over a month, you take a class together over at Whitmore. Just grab your balls and go for it already."

"It's easier said than done." Klaus bristled. "You wouldn't understand, my feelings for Caroline are far too complex for me to solicit her attention in a crowded, sweaty nightclub- wait, where are you going?"

"If you wont, I will." Katherine yelled over shoulder.

"What does that mean!? Katherine? Katerina?"

Katherine strutted confidently through the crowd of people in the bar area, toward where Caroline and the creepy guy stood. Her ensemble of a red bandage dress and eight inch, black stiletto pumps, earning her interested looks from many of the people she went past; all of whom she ignored. She came to a stop, right in between Caroline and the guy, effectively blocking her from his view.

"Uh, excuse me!?" he started to say. "We were trying to-"

"-Yeah, yeah. Listen up asshole, you see her face? Do you? That means she's not interested. Never was, probably never will be. So why don't you take your slimy, dollar store ass and go and bother someone else."

At first the man looked taken aback, clearly lost for words. He opened his mouth and looked as if he were about to say something but the deadly look Katherine shot him, stopped him in his tracks. He turned and left without uttering another word, his tail firmly between his legs.

Katherine sun around and beamed at Caroline.

"He won't be bothering you again. You're welcome,"

"Um… thank you?" Caroline stuttered out, still visibly shocked by Katherine's arrival.

"Katherine Pierce," Katherine said sticking out a manicured hand in Caroline's direction.

"Caroline," she replied shaking it,

"You feel like dancing Caroline?" Katherine asked.

"Oh! Uh, I'm… u, I'm not…" Caroline gestured.

Katherine rolled her eyes impatiently and grabbed Caroline's wrist.

"Relax cupcake, I'm asking you to dance, not marry me," she scoffed dragging her in the direction of the dance floor.

Katherine smirked, noting the pout on Klaus' face, as he sat propped up at the bar nursing his third bottle of beer for the night. As fun as it was torturing Klaus, all this beating around the bush was beginning to irritate her. Time to get to the bottom of things.

"See that guy over there?" Katherine called out to Caroline as they gyrated to Britney's latest single. "Don't be too obvious."

Caroline looked up discreetly over to where Katherine was referring.

"The one that's glaring at you?" Caroline asked.

"Mhmm, yeah that one," Katherine said dryly. "Girl to girl, would you date that?"

Caroline looked down and blushed slightly.

"He's in my art history class, why do you know him?"

Katherine arched her perfectly, plucked eyebrow interestedly.

"That's not answering the question. Infact, that's answering the question with another question,"

Caroline smiled despite herself and refused to meet Katherine's gaze.

"I've seen him around, we even share notes occasionally… He's attractive I guess, I mean objectively."

Katherine wrinkled her nose.

"Ugh the two of you are so eighth grade. Look do me a favour, if you do like him; could you go ahead and put him out of his misery?"

Caroline frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Katherine smiled knowingly. "Let's just say I have it on good authority that he's more than a little bit interested in you blondie."

Caroline bit her lip and looked over at Klaus look through her lashes. By chance their eyes met and Klaus pout formed into one of his trademark dimpled smirks.

Ah yes, Katherine thought, there's the lady killer I know and loathe.

"Go get him tiger," Katherine said, shocking Caroline as she smacked her on the ass. "Don't worry about me I'm just warming this crowd up."

Katherine felt a smug feeling creep up on her as Caroline tottered over in her shiny, gold heels to where Klaus at in anticipation.

Katherine smirked.

He owed her for this.


	9. Eat the Fruit

Prompt: I just love the myth of Persephone, I mean the real, original version of it because it's not like she got kidnapped, no, this bitch was la-de-da-ing in a meadow and she just happened to find an entrance to the Underworld and she was like "Imma check this out". And she just wanders into the Underworld and discovers that hey this place ain't too bad.

Meanwhile, Hades is in the background "? UM? PRETTY GIRL? WHY ARE YOU HERE? YOU AREN'T DEAD?"

And Persephone (who was originally called Kore just a little fyi) just looked at him and said "I like it here. I'm staying."

Based off of this post.

A/N: Because I saw this and had to write it. Also, I've always wanted to do a Hades and Persephone AU; even though this isn't the best thing I've ever written it was fun.

No beta.

For wavesofjoy

Caroline lay sprawled out on the meadow, staring forlornly up as the clouds and she fisted at the blades of grass beneath. She had honestly, never been more bored in her life. Perhaps Bonnie and Elena were content to frolick around aimlessly without a care in the world of a thought in their heads but Caroline was not. Was it wrong to wish to see something other than blue skies and endless patches of flowers, literally everywhere? Caroline's mother had always warned her that her sense of adventure would get her into trouble but why on earth should the Hercules have all the fun?

She sighed and stood to her feet. As she looked down she realised that she'd been lying in the same spot for so long she'd left an imprint in the grass. Caroline began wandering aimlessly, hoping in vain that something interesting would happen, when suddenly something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. A flower blood red and by far the most exotic Caroline had ever seen. And as the Goddess of vegetation, she'd seen pretty much all of them.

She sunk to her knees and ducked down in order to examine it. Admiring the shape of the leaves and the tiny flecks of colour inside the nectary. Caroline decided immediately that it was far too beautiful for her to just leave it there and not take it with her. She'd pick it and show it to her friends, so they could ooh and ah at it and then she'd bring it home and tend to it in her own personal garden. Despite the fact that she could practically hear her mother's voice warning her away from going near strange, foreign things she wasn't certain of; she reached out her arms to pick the flower from the dirt.

All at once there was a rumbling sound coming from beneath her. By the time Caroline felt the ground give away under her weight it was too late to do anything to stop it. She fell and kept falling for a very long time. Oddly enough she didn't feel afraid as she made her descent, rather a sense of gratitude that one of the old Gods had heard her petition for excitement.

When she woke up, instead of grass beneath her feet Caroline realised she was lying on very plush, expensive carpet in a very long corridor. Curiosity immediately took a hold of her and she got up and began to explore, without once questioning the strangeness of the situation. The house she had ended up in wasn't a house at all. It was a mansion, obviously owned by someone important - or at least someone extremely rich. Every room she walked into was more grandiose than the next, each one decorated with lavish furniture and artwork. The decor wasn't exactly to Caroline's taste, far too gothic. However, the owner obviously had style and she could appreciate their vision, although there was one of two things she would change had she been put in charge.

Eventually, she found her way outside. What appeared to be the entrance of the house led out to a large garden which was equally as luxurious as the house, although there were no flowers of anything growing from the earth save for a single pomegranate tree right at the back. In the centre of the gardens was a fountain that appeared to be producing some sort of gold, metallic liquid instead of water. She was just about to reach out and touch it when…

"Who are you?"

Caroline screeched and jumped three feet in the air. She turned around coming face to face with perhaps the most sinfully handsome she'd ever seen. The man wore all black and was tall and lean but still muscular. His sand coloured hair rested in little cherub curls on his forehead, his lips were full and red and Caroline flushed in embarrassment, as she briefly thought about what they would feel like against her skin. What truly captivated her, however, were his eyes; dark, intense and trained on her as she gaped at him like an idiot.

"I- I'm sorry, I… I don't…"

Caroline felt her entire body heat as the man came closer.

"One minute I was in the meadow and now I'm- well... here," Caroline tilted her head and frowned.

"Where exactly is here?"

The man's obscenely red lips were pulled into a smirk as he took another step forward.

"The underworld sweetheart,"

"The what!?" she exclaimed, her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

"The underworld, as in-?"

"Hell? Perdition? Hades? Yes," The man replied casually, his handsome features growing increasingly more amused at Caroline's distress.

Oh, this was bad. This was very bad Caroline could only imagine her mother's rage when she found out that her only daughter was not only missing but in the lair of satan himself. Speaking of which…

"Wait does that mean that your…"

Instead of offering a reply, the gorgeous man's lips stretched into a full smile, causing his sharp dimples to cut into his stubble covered cheeks; only serving to make even more, (unfairly) attractive.

Caroline fell silent, attempting to process the new information he'd just been given.

"Tell me, sweetheart-" he said breaking into the quiet that had settled between them.

"-Caroline," she interjected.

"Caroline," he purred, her name rolling off his lips in a way that made her shudder.

"-You're not dead,"

"Well obviously," she bluntly, before biting her tongue; remembering that she was addressing the all-powerful ruler of the underworld. A man feared, revered and most definitely not to be trifled with, from what she'd heard.

Luckily for her, he appeared entertained by her sudden outburst and continued.

"So how is it that you found your lovely self, here in my realm?" he asked circling around her in a predatory fashion.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him.

"Maybe you should tell me your name first," she countered, not missing the way his eyes were greedily roaming her form.

"My name is Klaus," he responded "But of course I am better known by my other title,"

Caroline nodded.

"Well… Klaus, as I said; one minute I was in the middle of a field and there was a flower and-"

"-Ah, of course,"

"Excuse me?" Caroline blinked.

"The flower you speak of, I've been meaning to close that particular portal up. I'll have to set Kol to the task a soon as possible,"

"I'm sorry, what portal?" Caroline asked, shaking her head in confusion.

"I matter not," Klaus said, brushing aside the issue.

"Since you are most certainly not dead," he hummed, giving her body another appreciative once over. "I'm sure we can arrange to have you transported up to the surface-"

"No,"

"Beg pardon?"

"What if I don't want to go back up to the surface?"

Now it was Klaus turn to stare at her in disbelief.

"I'm not sure I follow love,"

"I like it here, I think I'll stay," she said walking around him, back towards the fountain.

Klaus stood rooted to the spot watching her incredulously.

"I mean, at least for the time being," Caroline said. "I need a vacation,"

Klaus took a deep breath and walked over to her.

"Caroline I'm afraid-"

"-Please? you have no idea how boring it is on the surface," she beseeched him.

"Oh I have an idea love, but still -"

"Please, couldn't you take some time out of your busy schedule and give me a tour?" Caroline pleaded, literally batting her eyelashes at him.

Of course, she'd already done her fair share of exploring already but what Klaus didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Klaus expelled a deep sigh and Caroline could see his resolved melting as she flashed him one of her winning smiles.

Her mother would not be happy about this, she mused. However, as she watched that smirk appear on Klaus' face, Caroline found very it difficult to bring herself to care.

"THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE ELIJAH. DO YOU HEAR ME!? I WON'T HAVE IT"

Elijah pinched his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"Elizabeth, ple-"

"DON'T YOU ELIZABETH ME!" Liz screeched, pacing back and forth in front of him. "This is my daughter!? That… man has my daughter captive-"

"-That man," Elijah interjected "Is my brother, if you care to remember,"

Liz whirled around to glare at him.

"Well. Exactly." she snapped. "Talk some sense into him. Deal with things and quickly before I take matters into my own hands. Believe me, Elijah you won't like it if I do"

Without waiting for an answer Liz turned and stormed out of the room. Steam literally billowing from her ears as she did. Moments lately Rebekah walked into the room, regarding her brother with a curious expression.

She gestured toward the doorway of the palace.

"What the bloody hell was all that about?!"

Elijah turned to her and sighed.

"It appears our brother has gotten himself into yet another unholy mess once again, thus leaving yours truly to clean up after him,"

"So what are you going to do about it?" Rebekah asked.

"As you know, it takes a long time negotiate access to the underworld without a portal and Nikklaus has removed nearly all of them out of spite following our recent altercation."

"But as soon as I am able to get down there I will do my duty as administrator of justice and exact it accordingly,"

Rebekah chuckled to herself.

"Has something amused you, sister?" Elijah asked looking at her seriously.

"Oh nothing, it just that whole 'administrator of justice thing always tickles me,"

"And why would that be?" Elijah huffed indignantly.

"Well you have to admit it's sort of ironic considering the things you've gotten up to,"

Elijah looked as if he were about to protest when a shrill voice rang through the throne room.

"Elijah!" Katherine, Elijah's-not-quite-wife-not-quite-mistress called out. "I'm bored and you know exactly what happens when I'm bored. Entertain me!"

Elijah grimaced, avoiding looking at the smug look on Rebekah's face.

Caroline's stay in hades had extended way past Klaus expectations. He had no idea how he'd allowed things to get so out of hand. All he knew was that pretty Caroline had a smile that rivalled the sun and it was incredibly hard to say no to her. Hence why her afternoon visit had stretched into several weeks. Hence why Klaus had allowed his home to be turned upside down because Caroline insisted it was in need of 'renovation' and needed more colour because it was too 'unwelcoming'.

It was Hades. He was the feared Lord of the underworld. Unwelcoming was the look he was going for. If he wanted people flocking at his gates he'd put a big neon sign up and set up a concession stands that sold keyrings. Caroline had brushed off his obvious lack of enthusiasm as 'grumpiness' and ploughed on with her plans. What's more, Caroline had managed to put the fear of Zeus into every man and women in his employ, to such an extent that they were more afraid of upsetting her than they were of him. Which was something that he found to be both irritating and impressive?

Despite his own personality clashing heavily with Caroline's constant cheerful disposition and never ending optimism, Klaus had reached the disturbing revelation that he was falling head over heels in love with her. After all, she was strong, beautiful intelligent and he'd been captivated by her since the moment he spotted her flitting around the gardens. Everywhere she went this light seemed to follow her, even a small patch of land in the courtyard had started to grow flowers since her arrival. The look on Caroline's face when she'd seen the first shoots had warmed his cold, dead heart and made his stomach flip in a way that it hadn't done in years.

It was infuriating really. Klaus deeply resented being enslaved to his emotions like some sort of desperate teenage boy. Every day he'd wake from sleep wondering if today would be the day that Caroline decided to put an end to her little vacation in the underworld and return back to the surface. Every time he looked at her he was filled with self-loathing because he was a bitter, jaded and damaged soul, nowhere near good enough for someone as magnificent as Caroline. No matter how desperately he felt every inch of his being craving her.

Several weeks into her stay Caroline had insisted on throwing a party at the mansion for all the residents of the underworld. Of course he had adamantly protested and as usual, she had adamantly ignored him. In his head, Klaus interpreted that Caroline's sudden desire for festivities meant that she was planning to break the news of her departure to him. Because of this, Klaus spent the entire evening hidden away in the shadows, sullen and depressed, refusing to speak to anyone and glaring at any fool who dared to make contact with him.

True to form, Caroline, tore herself away from playing the perfect hostess and sought him out in the crowd.

"You missed the cake," she said pointedly, striding toward him in a dazzling figure-hugging gown, that looked as if it were painted on her.

"You look stunning, sweetheart," he murmured, giving her a heated look.

"Don't change the subject," she smiled handing him a champagne glass.

"You've been avoiding me all night, plus Marcel says you've been even more irritable than usual today,"

Klaus sighed and shook his head.

"I'm fine Caroline," he said stiffly, turning away from her. "Go back to enjoying the party."

Caroline was quiet for a long time and for a moment he thought she'd taken him at his word and left. But all of a sudden he felt one of her small gentle hands slide its way into his.

"I'm here," she said, almost so softly that he barely caught it over the noise of the party.

"I stayed Klaus. I stayed for you. Don't you see that?"

He turned finally turned to look at her, his eyes wide and disbelieving. He opened his mouth to speak but Caroline pressed her fingers to his lips to stop him.

"I think you should kiss me," she whispered. When he didn't move Caroline wound her arms around his neck and pressed her heated body against his.

"Do you want to kiss me?" she asked.

"Yes," Klaus growled, his voice low and husky. "Very much so,"

He cupped Caroline's face in his hands and gently brushed his lips against hers. Caroline mewled pulling him down closer to her and seeking entrance with her tongue, moaning as he responded to her; deepening the kiss and resting his hand on the small of her back.

He smiled at the whine of protest she let out once he pulled away.

"You realise I'm incapable of letting you go now," he said, gently nuzzling her temple.

Caroline smiled

"I'm well aware".

Klaus stretched and let out a contented sigh as he stirred from sleep. Immediately he grinned feeling Caroline's naked body on top of his as she pressed gentle kisses into the column of his throat. Three blissful months of waking up with her in his bed next to him and he still couldn't believe his luck. He doubted he'd ever get used to the idea that Caroline was his, that she'd chosen him and that he'd spend the rest of his waking up the smell of lavender and vanilla and the heat of Caroline's smooth skin against his own.

"Morning sweetheart,"

"Good morning," Klaus let out a sharp groan as he felt Caroline's hand wander under the waistband of his undergarments.

"Wicked minx," he hissed, arching into her touch.

"Was that a complaint?" Caroline giggled, lazily stroking her hand up and down his length as she leant down for a slow drugging kiss. Klaus sighed into it, rubbing circles into Caroline's skin.

Suddenly there was a loud cracking noise and the whole mansion began to shake.

"Klaus, what's happening?" Caroline gasped.

He let out an inhuman noise, as Caroline removed her hand from his member to steady herself.

"Klaus?" she repeated as another tremor occurred.

"It appears we have company sweetheart," he grumbled. "You might want to get dressed."

Sure enough, when they emerged from the bedroom there was a man waiting for them outside the door. He had a regal air about him, and his face was oddly familiar…

"Elijah," Klaus said stiffly. "To what do I owe the pleasure,"

"I did not travel all this way for pleasantries Nikklaus, release the girl and I will be out of your hair,"

"Release!?" Caroline and Klaus said at the same time.

Klaus chuckled.

"You think I'm imprisoning her Elijah? Nice to know what a high opinion my brother has of me,"

Before Elijah could respond there were another cracking noise and Liz appeared before them.

"Mum!?" Caroline exclaimed.

"What's happening Elijah!?" Liz demanded. "Paralyse him quickly so Caroline and I can-"

"Uh hello, mom? Hi, yeah I'm not sure what's going here but if you guys are here on some sort of rescue mission don't bother. Klaus isn't keeping me here against my will. I love him."

"- Enough. Don't be ridiculous, Koreoline. This has gone on long enough. Take my hand and return to the surface with me."

Caroline winced.

"You know I hate when you call me that." she said glaring in her mother's direction.

"Is that why you gave me that name so you could spend the rest of my life treating me like a little girl?"

"How dare you!" Liz shouted, "I am your mother-"

"-Yes, but I'm an adult and you can't stop me from staying here if that's what I want," Caroline insisted.

Liz's eyes bugged out of her head and she turned to look at Elijah.

"DO SOMETHING!" she demanded.

He shook his head.

"Elizabeth I'm, sorry you sent me here on the grounds that Caroline was being held against her will. Since it is quite apparent that she is not-"

Before he could finish Liv let out a scream to wake the dead (literally) and disappeared that the same way she came.

Klaus pulled Caroline against him and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"You can go after her you know,"

Caroline shook her head and pressed her face into his chest.

"No, I think I need to give her some time to cool off first," she explained. "She'll come around eventually I know it,"

Klaus wasn't so certain of that fact but didn't say as much to Caroline. Instead, he lifted his head to glare reproachfully at Elijah who was staring at them with curiosity.

"Is there something you wanted Elijah?" Klaus asked coolly.

Elijah shook his head and fixed Caroline with a hard stare.

"Koreoline indeed," he muttered. "I think Persephone would be far more suitable,"

In a second he too was gone leaving her and Klaus alone outside of their bedroom.

Caroline's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"What did he just call me?" she asked.

Klaus smirked.

"Persephone. It means the one who brings chaos,"

He couldn't help but chuckle at the adorable pout that formed on her face.


	10. Blood, Water & Champagne

**Prompt:** Ooh I've got a cute idea. What about a little reunion between Caroline, Bonnie, Elena, Tyler and Matt, a few years after TVD and they're all alive and happy and talk about their relationships (KC, KB, Stelena back together, Liz is revived and Matt can either be with Bekah or a human OC). Elena could be a writer and someone could be engaged... I just want all my babies to be safe and happy and for my ships to live.

 **A/N:** For argument's sake were gonna say that Klaus didn't kill Tyler's mom. Just the hybrids.

"I'm so glad you guys could make it!" Caroline exclaimed happily, nearly over-pouring Tyler's glass of champagne in her excitement.

"Well your invitation was both heartwarming and semi-threatening so it wasn't like we could say no," Tyler teased, earning him a half glare from Caroline.

"All that matters is that you're here," she chided him. Raising her voice over the buzz of chatter in the living room. "Not my methods,"

"'Car's parked," Both of them turned at the sound of Liv's voice behind them. "What did I miss?"

"Caroline has alcohol as promised on the fancy invites," Tyler smirked, looping his arm around Liv's waist as she drew closer.

Caroline smiled softly at the couple. Thinking back to years ago, nearly a decade now. After she and Tyler had ended things and they were still raw and uncomfortable between them, he'd broken her heart and she'd shattered his in return. Never in a million years did Caroline think she'd be able to talk and joke amiably with him in her living room - the in the house she shared with Klaus no less.

They had both moved on and were living happy lives with other people, whom they respectively adored. Caroline had always inwardly taken pride in the fact, that she'd had a hand in bringing Tyler and Liv back together.

Despite what Tyler claimed.

Okay so, maybe it had had something to do with the fact that Liv's brother had risen from the dead, hell bent on making Jo's big day the wedding from hell and threatened everyone's lives but somewhere along the lines, Caroline was certain Tyler had caught her memo about being adults and talking through his problems. So she afforded herself a pat on the back all the same.

After both reapplying to Whitmore and graduating, Tyler and Liv had decided to New York. They'd also decided to elope. Liv detested any sort of large scale function that involved her whole family - especially after the last time - and Tyler equally hated any kind of fuss and frills so, of course, it had seemed like the obvious solution.

Caroline had been thrilled for them, despite the party planner inside of her mourning the missed opportunity of arranging a spectacular ceremony.

At the mention of alcohol, Liv's face perked up with interest.

"Good, I hope it's something strong. That plane ride was hellish,"

"Just champagne," Caroline replied, holding up the bottle and shaking her head. "How bad are we talking?"

"Try the fact that we were trapped between this sweaty-ass guy, who weighed about 300 pounds and a newborn that spent the entire flight screaming its ass off,"

"I got the screaming baby," Tyler interjected, smiling humorlessly.

"If that wasn't enough, our pilot decided to fly us through a tornado," Liv deadpanned.

"The turbulence wasn't that bad," said Tyler, taking a swig of champagne. "She's being dramatic,"

"Psssh, that's easy for you to say. You, we're snoring like crazy through the entire flight,"

"I didn't snore!" Tyler protested.

Liv snorted.

"Why do you think the baby was crying?"

"Okay, well, drinks will help! Strong ones." Caroline said, cutting into the couple's playful bickering. "I think I have something better than this in the kitchen, I'll be right back,"

"Oh by the way!" she added turning back around. "Is Luke coming?"

Liv chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"Luke is with his new fitness instructor boyfriend in The Cayman Islands- But he sends his best."

Caroline nodded and headed out of the room, leaving Liv and Tyler to continue their spirited debate about who had the worse experience on the plane.

She wagered that antisocial hybrid of hers would be in their kitchen somewhere; lurking about, attempting to hide from what he described as a deplorable mixture of his relatives and Caroline's friends. No doubt, he'd gotten through half their supply of bourbon already, Caroline mentally decided to stake him if he'd ignored her instructions and opened the good scotch she had been saving for the toast.

A smile formed on her face, as Caroline drew closer to the kitchen and she could distinctly hear the deep undertones of Stefan's voice mingled with Klaus' raucous laughter.

"You'd better not be up to no good in here," Caroline called out, rounding the corner and coming face to face with a smirking Klaus and a slightly guilty looking Stefan.

"Are we ever, sweetheart?" Klaus grinned, knocking back the glass of brown liquid in his hands.

Seeing Caroline's intent stare Klaus grabbed the near empty bottle of 1978 brandy from behind and showed it to her.

"Worry not love, it isn't the good stuff I promise," He strolled over to where she stood and placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead.

"I was just making sure our old friend had something substantial to drink while the two of us caught up."

At the mention of Stefan, Caroline turned and flashed him an apologetic look.

"I am so sorry I haven't had time to catch up with you and Elena since you arrived, I've just been so busy trying to get everybody comfortable that I just completely spaced. You guys must think I'm so rude-"

"Care, Care, slow down okay?" Stefan interjected. "Nobody thinks you're rude, I'm sure it's not easy playing hostess, especially to a bunch of vampires."

"Ugh, you have no idea," Caroline said, slumping down into one of the stools by the counter. "Where is Elena, anyway?"

"Uh, the last time I saw her she took off to go find Matt. Probably to grill him about his new sweetheart," Stefan answered, taking a sip of his drink.

"Ooh, have you met her yet?"

"No, but considering we'll only be able to see her two, maybe three more times before she gets suspicious that none of us are ageing, I'd better do it while I can."

Caroline shrugged. "So we'll compel her not to notice," Noticing the pointed look Stefan was giving her she added. "With Matt's permission… obviously."

Klaus, who was rummaging around in the fridge for another bottle, laughed at that, prompting Caroline to glare at his muscular back.

"So how are you and Elena doing?" Caroline asked, changing the subject swiftly. "I hear her books doing well."

"Number 1 New York times best seller," Stefan replied, beaming proudly.

As Caroline had predicted, Elena saw sense and gave up on her 'dream of becoming a new-age Meredith Grey, instead reverting back to her first love; writing. Under the pseudonym L.J Smith, Elena had released the summer's hottest teen novel 'The Vampire Diaries'. The story of Helen, a teenage girl struggling with the knowledge that vampires exist, while attempting to juggle school, family and love.

Was it predictable? Yes. But Caroline had to admit, Elena was a good novelist. In fact, she'd purchased a copy out of pure curiosity and found herself completely hooked and anticipating the next instalment, which Elena (or L.J) had promised would be released in the Fall. Caroline's favourite character in so far had to be Carrie, Helen's blonde, tenacious, fearless, best friend who reminded her of a certain someone. Although Klaus was less than impressed when informed of one of the story's main villains, Nikolaj. A fearsome vampire hybrid, who could turn into a fire breathing dragon at will.

Caroline, needless to say had found that particular part hilarious.

"I haven't had a chance to congratulate Elena in person," Caroline mused, pouring the remaining bit of champagne in her hands into a glass.

"Hmm, yes nor have I," Klaus interjected closing fridge. "Especially considering all the suggestions I have for Elena's next book."

Caroline turned and shot Klaus a warning glare as Stefan snorted in amusement.

"Well I'd love to sit here all afternoon and chat but I have a party to host," Caroline said, swinging her legs off the stool and sweeping her hair out of her shoulders, exposing the diamond earrings Klaus had purchased for her birthday to the fluorescent light of the kitchen.

"And also the hostess with the mostess needs to tinkle so-"

"Okay, well we're glad you invited us Care," Stefan said coming towards her for a hug. "Hopefully you and Elena see each other at some point she's been dying to catch up with you," he hummed placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Hmm I hope so too," Caroline smiled pulling back. "Hey, keep him in line the rest of the evening for me okay?" she asked pointing over to Klaus.

Stefan glanced at him over his shoulder and laughed.

"I'll do my best."

As Caroline headed up the stairs, she idly wondered if it was time to change the wallpaper in the foyer. Coming to a stop at the top, she frowned, hearing voices from the bathroom.

"Hello?" Caroline called out in confusion.

The voices stopped abruptly and then to Caroline's surprise Bonnie emerged from the bathroom.

"Bonnie! Oh my gosh. When did you get here? Where have you been? I've been texting you, Bonnie!-" Caroline half chastised, half squealed pulling Bonnie into a tight hug.

"Oh!- Wow, hey Care. Yeah, I know I'm so sorry. I got here and I needed to freshen up so I just went straight to the bathroom," Bonnie said, hurriedly attempting to answer all of Caroline's questions.

"I'm so glad you came!" Caroline exclaimed, proceeding to hug the life out of her best friend.

"Are you kidding, I wouldn't have missed this for the world." Bonnie beamed, easing herself out of the hug.

"So where is he?" Caroline asked, a knowing glint in her eyes.

"Where is who?" Bonnie asked, shifting slightly on the spot, a faint blush on her cheeks.

"Kol, obviously," Caroline said. "I know he's here, he told Klaus on the phone last night he would be, he also said something about us preparing to have our entire liquor supply drained."

"Mmm, well… you know Kol," Bonnie chuckled, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.

"Bonnie are you okay?" Caroline asked, eyeing her, the tone of her voice shifting into one of concern. "You look weird."

"Jetlag," she replied quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, definitely- uh, do you wanna go downstairs and get a drink?"

Before Caroline could answer a voice sounded from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Does that mean I can come out of here now?"

"Kol!?" Caroline said incredulously. Bonnie winced as she turned to look at her.

"What is he doing in there wh- what were you doing in there Kol?" Caroline demanded as Kol pushed open the door. Inexplicably, Caroline's eyes were immediately drawn to the zipper on Kol's jeans he was frantically attempting to do up as he emerged from the bathroom.

Only then did Caroline take notice of Bonnie's rather dishevelled appearance; Caroline's eyes darted between them and the widened in shock at the realisation.

"Were the two of you in there…. doing it, in my bathroom?!"

Judging by the smug look on Kol's face and how embarrassed Bonnie looked in comparison, Caroline knew she had her answer.

"Seriously!?"

"I'm sorry, we got carried away, we're sorry aren't we Kol?" Bonnie insisted, elbowing a very un-sorry looking Kol in the chest.

"Ow! Bloody hell, fine I'm sorry. I promise Bonnie and I will replace everything we broke during our rampant love-making."

"You'll do what!?"

"Kol!" Bonnie shouted, scandalized.

"What's all the screaming about up there?" A shrill voice demanded from the bottom of the steps.

Rebekah's long legs, encased in a pair of ten-inch heels came into view. Looking up at the three of them with an unimpressed look she held up an empty bottle.

"You're out of champagne Caroline. If I can't drink I'll be forced to socialise which if I remember correctly you insisted I didn't do."

"And I still am." Caroline deadpanned, throwing Kol and Bonnie one last disparaging look before heading down the stairs, pointing her index finger at them threateningly. "I'll deal with you two later."

"Really?" Bonnie hissed at Kol, "You couldn't have stayed in there three more seconds!?"

"What can I say," he shrugged mischievously. "I like to make an entrance. Besides you weren't complaining while we were in there."

* * *

"Where's your useless boyfriend," Caroline asked Rebekah. "I sent him to get more drinks ages ago."

"Honestly Caroline, if the responsibility of hosting is too much for you, perhaps you ought to leave this sort of thing up to the professionals." Rebekah sang-song patronisingly.

"Oh, and that would be you I suppose." she said dryly, eyebrows raised slightly.

"All I'm saying is, at my parties the guests are never dying of thirst."

"At your parties, you compel a bunch of people to do all the work for you," Caroline fired back.

Before Rebekah could fire a response the door was flung open and Enzo walked in holding ice and a large crate in his hands.

"Champagne on ice, just as her majesty ordered." he quipped.

"Yeah, well, 'her majesty' ordered it about an hour ago so good job," Caroline answered sarcastically.

"Lorenzo I could murder you," Rebekah grumbled.

"Wonderful," Enzo said. "Between the time I left and now, I've somehow managed to anger both of you."

"You left me here, for God knows how long, with Caroline's insipid guests-"

"-Don't insult my guests!" Caroline gritted out.

"Women eh?" Kol interjected, strolling nonchalantly down the stairs. "There's no pleasing them."

"For my own safety, I'm not answering that," Enzo replied as the two men shared a conspiratorial grin.

"I have other guests," Caroline said, exasperated. "Enzo put that in the kitchen, Bonnie keep Kol away from people and Rebekah-"

Caroline angled her head towards the blonde original, her voice on edge and demanding. "-A smile wouldn't kill you."

"Oh my goodness it's beautiful!" Caroline squealed admiring the sparkling engagement ring, encased in a red velvet box in Matt's hand.

"D'you think she'll like it?" Matt asked, referring to a petite, honey blonde women in the middle of the room, making small talk with some of the other guests.

"I think she'll love it." she confirmed with a smile. "You know I'm really happy for you Matt and really proud."

"Thanks, Care, I just hope this goes well," he paused and flashed Caroline a bashful smile. "I really love her."

"I can tell."

"So does she know about us?"

Matt face contorted in confusion. "Caroline that was nearly fifteen years ago?" he whispered.

She nearly choked on her drink attempting to hold back her laughter. "No, Matt. I don't mean us us. All of us." Caroline said, gesturing to the scattered figures of their friends.

"Oh. No. No way."

"Matt-" she began.

"It's safer this way Caroline." he insisted, stuffing his hands defensively in the pockets of his jeans.

"That's a pretty big part of your life to withhold from someone," Caroline gave him an imploring look. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Matt nodded. "I love you guys but I don't really want her involved in all of this. I just wanna live a normal life, y'know?"

"Sure," Caroline nodded "I understand,"

Although it was a lie, really. If Caroline was honest, she hadn't thought about the prospect of living a life anywhere near normal in a very long time. Honestly, there wasn't much about being human that she missed. Certainly not ageing. At that thought and seeing the laugh lines beginning to form in the corner of Matt's eyes now that he was entering his thirties was a particularly surreal wake-up call. Eventually, Matt would settle down, lead his perfectly normal life and have kids.

And age.

And eventually, die.

Like all humans did.

One day, so would Bonnie and even Tyler. Even her immortal friends like Stefan and Elena may be living such different lives in 50 maybe 100 years from now. Who knows the next time they'd all be in the same place together.

"Excuse me," Caroline called out, tapping her spoon daintily against her glass. "Hello, can I get everyone's attention please?"

"Here we go," Rebekah muttered, downing her 3rd glass of champagne in the last hour.

"Vampire hearing, Rebekah," Caroline whispered under her breath, invoking an eye roll from the Original.

"I would like to thank all of you for coming." The attention of nearly all occupants of the room turned to Caroline." Some us in this room have been through so much together and although a lot has changed and our lives have definitely panned out differently than we imagined I'm really proud of the people we've become and what we've managed to accomplish. I love all of you so much and hope that whatever happens next, I hope we'll always remain a part of each other's lives. So… here's to us. Cheers."

As a chorus of the same sentiment echoed around the room Caroline looked up and noticed Klaus smiling at her from across the room. She returned it and tilted her flute of champagne towards him, smiling at the irony.

After all, it always was their thing.


End file.
